Sales of ice cream are growing year on year in the Middle East, despite fears that obesity in the region is getting seriously out of control.

NTDE brand manager — gourmet division Hamid Reza Hosseini said: “According to the latest research from Mintel 2010, the retail value sales of ice cream reached US $ 2.4 billion in 2009 in the Middle East and Africa.

“This represents an increase of 8% on the previous year. In 2009, Iran and Saudi Arabia accounted for around 50% of total ice cream retail value sales in the Middle East and Africa region, while ice cream sales in the Middle East are projected to grow by 20% in retail volume over the 2009-2014 period,“ he added.

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But although statistics showed that sales of ice cream had risen, other suppliers said that there was a growing trend for low fat products.

Sales and marketing manager for Armobel for Industry and Trade, Ghassan Mougharbel, explained: “One of the new trends in the region is yogurt ice-cream which is 0% fat and you can add whatever flavour you want — this is very popular indeed.”