Let’s face it: ice cream is already pretty difficult to dislike. But give a scoop of vanilla a handful of crunchy honeycomb, a drizzle of chocolate sauce, a few chocolate curls and a generous scattering of sprinkles, and suddenly you have something much more exciting than “just ice cream”. You have a dessert. For ice cream shops, cafés, restaurants, dessert parlours and mobile caterers, that extra bit of excitement can be very good for business.
At CFW, we offer a wide range of Ice Cream Toppings designed to help businesses turn everyday scoops into eye-catching, indulgent desserts. From classic chocolate flakes and colourful sprinkles to fudge pieces, honeycomb, biscuit crumbs, marshmallows and premium chocolate decorations, there are plenty of ways to give customers something worth coming back for.
Our current Ice Cream Toppings range includes 54 products, covering biscuits, chocolate, chocolate decorations, fudge, honeycomb, inclusions, marshmallows, nuts, sauces and sprinkles. There are also a variety of flavours and dietary options to help you build a more versatile dessert menu.
So, if your ice cream menu could use a little more va-va-voom, let’s talk toppings.
Why Ice Cream Toppings Matter
A scoop of ice cream can be delicious on its own but customers don’t just buy desserts for flavour. They buy the experience.
They want something that looks tempting when it arrives at the table. Something colourful in a takeaway tub. Something indulgent enough to justify a photograph before the first spoonful. And, ideally, something that makes them think: “I’m definitely having that again.” That’s where toppings come in. The right topping can add:
- Extra flavour
- Crunch and texture
- Colour and visual appeal
- A premium finish
- More variety to your menu
- Opportunities for customisation
- A reason to trade up from a basic scoop to a more indulgent dessert
Most importantly, toppings give you a relatively simple way to create a huge variety of desserts from your existing ice cream range. You don’t necessarily need twenty new ice cream flavours, sometimes you just need a very good tub of chocolate sauce.
Explore CFW’s Ice Cream Toppings Range
If you’re looking to refresh your dessert offering, take a look at CFW’s full range of Ice Cream Toppings.
You’ll find products from recognised brands including Sephra, Callebaut, Cadbury, Lotus and Oreo, alongside a broad selection of professional toppings and inclusions… there is plenty to choose from.
Chocolate Toppings
Chocolate remains the undisputed heavyweight champion of ice cream toppings. CFW’s range includes chocolate flakes, chocolate sprinkles, chocolate beans, chocolate shavings, curls, blossoms, pencils and Crispearls. In other words, if your customer says, “Can I have chocolate on that?”, you should be well prepared.
Classic chocolate flakes are ideal for traditional cones and 99-style servings, while chocolate shavings and curls can give sundaes and plated desserts a more premium appearance.
For something a little different, chocolate beans add colour and crunch, while chocolate decorations can be used as a finishing touch to make desserts look considerably more impressive. And if your customers are the sort of people who believe there is no such thing as too much chocolate, CFW has your back.
Turn Up the Crunch with Honeycomb
Smooth, creamy ice cream is wonderful. Smooth, creamy ice cream with something crunchy running through it? Even better.
Honeycomb is a brilliant way to introduce texture, with CFW offering both Honeycomb Dust and Honeycomb Chunks. Honeycomb works particularly well with vanilla, chocolate, caramel and salted caramel flavours. Try combining Honeycomb Chunks with caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream for an easy premium sundae. Or use Honeycomb Dust as a finishing sprinkle across whipped cream and sauce.
The result is a dessert with a satisfying mixture of creamy, crunchy and sticky textures. And that’s exactly the sort of thing customers tend to remember.
Fudge: The Shortcut to Indulgence
Fudge and ice cream are a natural partnership.
CFW stocks Sephra Fudge Pieces and Fudge Squares, giving businesses an easy way to add rich, chewy texture to sundaes and other desserts.
Try combining fudge with:
- Chocolate ice cream and chocolate sauce
- Vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce
- Salted caramel ice cream and honeycomb
- Chocolate curls and whipped cream
You can also use fudge pieces to create signature desserts that give customers a reason to upgrade.
Instead of simply selling “two scoops of ice cream”, for example, you can offer a Chocolate Fudge Sundae featuring ice cream, sauce, fudge pieces and chocolate decoration. Same freezer… same basic scoop. Much more exciting menu description.
Biscuit Toppings: Familiar Flavours, Big Appeal
There is something wonderfully comforting about biscuits and ice cream. Perhaps it’s because both are already firmly established members of the “things that make life better” category. CFW’s range includes biscuit toppings and crumbs from popular names including Lotus, Speculoos and Oreo. These are particularly useful for creating desserts around familiar flavours.
The Biscoff-Inspired Sundae
Try vanilla ice cream with Speculoos Biscuit Crumbs, caramel sauce and a whole biscuit garnish.
The Oreo Sundae
Pair chocolate ice cream with Oreo Pieces or Crumbs, chocolate sauce and a generous topping of chocolate decoration.
The Biscuit Crunch
Combine vanilla ice cream, biscuit crumbs, honeycomb and caramel sauce for a dessert with plenty of texture. The commercial advantage is simple: recognisable flavours can make menu descriptions immediately appealing. Customers don’t necessarily need an explanation of what an Oreo sundae is. They just need to see it on the menu.
Sprinkles: Small Topping, Big Personality
Sprinkles are proof that good things sometimes come in very small packages. CFW offers multicoloured sugar strands alongside chocolate sprinkle options. They’re ideal for children’s desserts, birthday treats and colourful cones, but don’t be too quick to dismiss them for adult customers. After all, adulthood is largely about making your own decisions… and sometimes that decision is “more sprinkles”.
Sprinkles can also be a cost-effective way to make desserts look more colourful and distinctive without adding complicated preparation.
Marshmallows Add a Little Fun
Mini Marshmallows are another easy way to make an ice cream dessert feel more generous and playful. CFW offers pink and white Belgian mini marshmallows, including halal options. They’re particularly useful for children’s sundaes, colourful creations and indulgent chocolate desserts. Try combining marshmallows with chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, biscuit crumbs and chocolate sprinkles. You could call it something simple like a Rocky Road Sundae or give it your own signature name.
The more memorable the dessert, the easier it is for customers to remember what they want next time.
Don’t Forget the Sauce
Dry toppings are fantastic but sometimes you need a little drizzle or quite a lot of drizzle.
CFW’s Sephra Topping Sauces give businesses another way to customise desserts and create different flavour combinations. The range includes flavours such as chocolate fudge, caramel, toffee, strawberry, raspberry, cookies and cream, bubblegum, pistachio and maple syrup. That means one ice cream flavour can become several different desserts simply by changing the sauce and toppings. Vanilla + strawberry sauce, Vanilla + caramel sauce, Vanilla + chocolate fudge sauce and Vanilla + pistachio sauce.
Suddenly vanilla is having a very productive day.
Build a Better Sundae
One of the easiest ways to get more from your ice cream toppings is to create a structured sundae menu. Rather than offering customers an enormous list of ingredients and asking them to assemble their own dessert from scratch, create a selection of signature combinations. For example:
- The Chocolate Monster
Chocolate ice cream + chocolate fudge sauce + chocolate beans + chocolate curls. - The Honeycomb Crunch
Vanilla ice cream + caramel sauce + honeycomb dust + honeycomb chunks. - The Cookie Crumble
Vanilla ice cream + Speculoos crumbs + cookies and cream sauce + biscuit garnish. - The Birthday Blast
Vanilla ice cream + chocolate sauce + rainbow sprinkles + mini marshmallows. - The Premium Pistachio
Vanilla or pistachio ice cream + pistachio sauce + white chocolate curls + chocolate decoration.
The combinations are almost endless and that is one of the biggest advantages of having a good range of toppings available.
Use Toppings to Create Premium Desserts
If you’re running a commercial ice cream business, toppings can help you create a clear distinction between your standard and premium offerings.
For example:
- Standard cone:
Two scoops of ice cream. - Loaded cone:
Two scoops + sauce + sprinkles + chocolate topping. - Signature sundae:
Three scoops + sauce + fudge + biscuit crumb + premium chocolate decoration + whipped cream.
You’re not necessarily reinventing your menu. You’re adding layers of value and customers often understand premium pricing more readily when they can visibly see what they’re getting. A sundae covered in chocolate curls, honeycomb and sauce looks more substantial than two scoops sitting quietly in a bowl. The ice cream hasn’t changed… the presentation has.
Toppings Can Help You Sell More Than Ice Cream
Here’s where things get particularly interesting for businesses. A good toppings range doesn’t have to be limited to ice cream. Many of the same ingredients can be used across a wider dessert menu. CFW’s ice cream topping category sits alongside other dessert-focused products, while topping sauces can be used across products such as sundaes, cones, waffles, crêpes, milkshakes and cakes. That means a topping purchased for your ice cream counter could potentially become part of several other menu items.
- Chocolate shavings on ice cream? Yes.
- Chocolate shavings on a waffle? Also yes.
- Chocolate curls on a milkshake? Absolutely.
- Chocolate decoration on a dessert plate? Now you’re thinking commercially.
Don’t Forget Your Ice Cream Packaging
Of course, a fantastic dessert needs somewhere to go. If you’re serving takeaway ice cream, CFW also supplies a range of Disposable Ice Cream Tubs and Packaging, including disposable ice cream tubs and compatible lids.
Good packaging helps your finished product travel from your counter to your customer’s sofa without becoming a modern art installation in the bottom of a carrier bag. Pair attractive ice cream packaging with carefully chosen toppings and your takeaway desserts can look just as appealing outside the shop as they do across the counter.
Make Your Menu More Instagram-Friendly
We may as well acknowledge the elephant in the sundae glass. People photograph food… a lot. That means visual presentation matters.
Bright sprinkles, glossy sauces, contrasting chocolate decorations, biscuit crumbs and honeycomb can all help create desserts with plenty of visual interest. Think about colour contrast, height, texture and about that final topping placed right on the top Then think about whether you would happily take a photograph of it. If the answer is yes, you’re onto something.
Choose Toppings for Your Customers
Not every business needs dozens of toppings. The right selection depends on your customers and your menu.
- A traditional seaside ice cream shop might prioritise classic flakes, sprinkles, sauces and honeycomb.
- A premium dessert parlour might focus on Belgian Chocolate decorations, biscuit toppings, fudge and sophisticated sauces.
- A family-oriented business might lean towards colourful sprinkles, marshmallows, chocolate beans and fun combinations.
- A café offering waffles, crêpes and milkshakes as well as ice cream could choose versatile toppings that work across multiple desserts.
The important thing is to choose products that give you flexibility.
Catering for Different Dietary Requirements
Dietary requirements are another important consideration when choosing toppings.
CFW’s ice cream toppings range includes products that can be filtered according to dietary requirements including dairy free, gluten free, halal certified or suitable, kosher certified or suitable, vegan and vegetarian. This can make it easier to identify products that may fit your menu requirements. However, always check the individual product information, packaging and current allergen guidance before serving products to customers with allergies or specific dietary requirements.
Ready to Upgrade Your Ice Cream Menu?
The beauty of ice cream toppings is that you don’t have to completely reinvent your business to make your desserts more exciting.
Start with a few dependable favourites. Add chocolate, crunch. sauce and a little colour… then experiment. Create two or three signature sundaes. Test them with your customers. Find out which combinations disappear fastest. And then, when someone orders another one tomorrow, you’ll know you’ve got a winner.
CFW’s range gives you plenty of ingredients to experiment with, from everyday sprinkles and biscuit crumbs to professional chocolate decorations, fudge, honeycomb, marshmallows and sauces.
Ready to Find Your Next Best-Selling Topping?
Explore the full CFW Ice Cream Toppings range and discover toppings, inclusions and decorations designed to help you create more exciting desserts.
Looking for the finishing touch? Browse Sephra Topping Sauces for sauces to drizzle, swirl and drizzle again.
Need takeaway packaging too? Explore CFW Disposable Ice Cream Tubs to complete your takeaway offering.
Because the perfect scoop deserves a proper supporting cast… and frankly, chocolate flakes shouldn’t have to do all the work.