Walk into any seaside town in the UK on a Tuesday in July and you’ll see the same thing. A queue of people standing by a brightly colored van, waiting for a soft-serve cone with a crumbly chocolate stick shoved into it at a jaunty angle. It’s the 99 ice cream flake. Honestly, it's more than just a snack. It is a piece of cultural heritage that has survived inflation, health crazes, and the literal melting of the planet. But if you ask ten people why it's actually called a "99," nine of them will tell you it's because it used to cost 99p.
They’re wrong.
Actually, they're super wrong. The 99 has never really been 99p in any consistent way. If you look at the economics of ice cream in the mid-20th century, 99p would have been an astronomical price for a cone. It’s a myth that just won’t die. This article explores the weird history, the Cadbury connection, and why this specific treat still holds a death grip on the British psyche.
The naming mystery that refuses to go away
So, where did the name come from? Cadbury, the giants behind the Flake itself, have a pretty specific story about this. Back in the 1920s, the company was trying to figure out how to market a shorter version of their standard Flake bar specifically for the ice cream trade. They didn’t just want to sell big bars; they wanted something that fit perfectly in a cone without snapping the wafer.
At the time, the Cadbury export manager was a guy who spent a lot of time in Italy. In the 1920s, the elite guard of the Italian King was made up of 99 men. Because of this, anything that was considered "top tier" or "the best of the best" was referred to as a "99" in Italian culture. Cadbury liked the vibe. They wanted their ice cream flake to be the "elite" addition to a standard cone.
There are other theories, of course. Some people in Portobello, Scotland, swear it was named after a shop at 99 High Street owned by the Arcari family. Stefano Arcari reportedly broke a large Flake in half and put it in a scoop of ice cream. While the Arcaris are a real family with a deep history in the trade, Cadbury's branding machine has largely won the PR war on the origin story.
It’s just a name.
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A name that has caused endless arguments at ice cream vans when a parent realizes they’re paying £3.50 for something called a "99." The price-point confusion is a relatively modern phenomenon. Before the UK shifted to decimalization in 1971, the idea of something costing "99" wouldn't have even made sense in the same way.
Why the 99 ice cream flake is a logistical nightmare for vendors
You’d think putting a bit of chocolate in ice cream is easy. It isn't. Not when you're dealing with a Flake.
The Flake is legendary for its "crumble" factor. This is because of the way the chocolate is folded during the manufacturing process. Unlike a solid Dairy Milk bar, a Flake has a massive surface area and a very thin, folded structure. This means it melts differently and shatters under pressure.
For an ice cream van operator, handling the 99 ice cream flake is a delicate dance. If they keep them too cold, they snap when they try to push them into the soft serve. If they keep them too warm, the chocolate loses that signature snap and becomes a muddy mess. Most vendors have a specific "sweet spot" in their storage bins to keep the chocolate at the right temp.
Then there’s the soft-serve itself. A "whippy" or "99" requires a specific overrun—that’s the amount of air whipped into the mix. If the ice cream is too dense, the flake won't go in. If it’s too airy, the flake will just fall out and hit the pavement, which is basically a tragedy in slow motion for any five-year-old.
The supply chain is another beast. In 2022, there was a massive "Flake shortage" across the UK and Ireland. Cadbury, now owned by Mondelez International, struggled to keep up with demand during a particularly hot summer. It turned into a national news story. People were genuinely worried. Some vendors resorted to using "off-brand" chocolate sticks, but customers noticed immediately. There is a specific mouthfeel to a real Cadbury 99 that you just can't replicate with a generic supermarket knock-off.
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The anatomy of the perfect serve
Is there a right way to eat it? Probably. Most experts (and by experts, I mean people who have eaten these on a windy pier in Blackpool) suggest a specific order of operations.
- The lick: You have to stabilize the soft serve around the base of the flake first. If you don't, the weight of the chocolate will eventually cause a structural failure in the "peak" of the ice cream.
- The bite: You take a small bite of the flake while it's still cold. This gives you that textural contrast between the frozen cream and the dry, brittle chocolate.
- The scoop: You use the flake as a sort of edible spoon to scoop out some of the ice cream from the center of the swirl.
Don't wait too long. A Flake is basically a sponge for melting ice cream. If you let it sit, the capillary action pulls the liquid into the folds of the chocolate. It stays tasty, but you lose that brittle texture that makes it a 99 in the first place.
The 99 ice cream flake in the modern era
We live in a world of "freakshakes" and artisanal gelato. You can get ice cream infused with charcoal, lavender, or liquid nitrogen. So why does the 99 still dominate?
Nostalgia is the obvious answer. But it’s also about simplicity. The 99 ice cream flake represents a very specific type of British summer. It's the sound of a tinny "Greensleeves" playing from a van three streets away. It's the feeling of sticky hands and sand in your shoes.
But there’s also a technical reason. Soft-serve ice cream is actually quite bland on its own. It’s mostly air and vegetable fat or dairy solids. It needs a high-intensity hit of cocoa to balance out the sugar. The Flake provides that hit without being overwhelming. It’s the perfect ratio.
Interestingly, the 99 is starting to see some competition from "premium" versions. Some high-end dairies are making their own "artisan flakes" using 70% dark chocolate. Honestly? It's not the same. It’s too hard. It doesn't crumble. It defeats the purpose. The beauty of the 99 is that it’s accessible and a little bit messy.
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Nutritional reality (Brace yourself)
Look, nobody buys a 99 for their health. But it's worth noting what's actually in there. A standard Flake 99 (the mini bar) is about 8.5 grams of chocolate. It’s roughly 45 calories just for the chocolate bit. When you add in the soft serve and the wafer cone, you're looking at anywhere between 250 and 400 calories depending on the size of the "swirl."
The bigger issue for some is the ingredients. Soft serve in the UK is often made from a mix that contains palm oil and various emulsifiers to keep it stable at higher temperatures. If you're looking for "real" ice cream made with just cream, eggs, and sugar, a 99 from a van probably isn't going to satisfy you. But again, that's not why people buy them. You buy it for the experience.
Regional variations and "The Double 99"
While the classic 99 is a single flake, the "Double 99" is the ultimate flex. It’s exactly what it sounds like: two flakes shoved into a larger twin-cone or a very wide single cone. It’s structurally unstable and arguably too much chocolate for one person, but it remains a popular "treat" item.
In some parts of the North of England and Scotland, you’ll find variations where they add "monkey blood" (raspberry syrup) or lime juice. There’s even a version in some places where they’ll dip the whole top in a hard chocolate shell, though that's technically a "Choc Top" and some purists argue it shouldn't be called a 99 once you start adding shells.
The name remains the anchor. Whether it's a single, a double, or covered in sprinkles, if there’s a flake in it, the British public will call it a 99.
What you should do next
If you're looking to recreate the 99 ice cream flake experience at home or just want to be a more informed consumer, keep these things in mind:
- Check the branding: If you’re at a van and the chocolate looks "shiny" or perfectly smooth, it’s likely a generic chocolate stick and not a real Cadbury Flake. The texture will be different.
- Storage matters: If you buy a box of 99 Flakes for home, don't keep them in the fridge. They’ll get condensation and turn "bloomed" (that white dusty look). Keep them in a cool, dry cupboard.
- The Cone Test: A good 99 should have a crisp, dry wafer. If the cone is chewy or soft, the vendor hasn't stored them correctly or they’re old stock.
- Don't overpay: While prices vary by location (London vs. a rural park), anything over £4.00 for a standard single 99 is pushing the limits of "tourist trap" pricing.
The 99 isn't going anywhere. It has survived world wars (the bar was invented in 1920), recessions, and the rise of the healthy eating movement. It's a small, crumbly piece of joy that reminds us that sometimes, the simplest things are the ones that stick around the longest.
Next time you see an ice cream van, forget about the price and the calories for a second. Just grab a 99, find a bench, and try to eat it before it ends up on your shirt. That’s the real British summer experience.