A Very British Meltdown Over Brexit

Not even the humble ice cream can escape the debate surrounding the In-Out referendum on Britain's membership of the EU, following claims that a Brexit could have a chilling effect on the UK's love affair with ice cream, if the country votes to leave the European Union.

The boss of Unilever, which owns Wall's, which incidentally makes masses of ice-cream, says trade tariffs could push up the price by 40 percent. CEO Paul Polman told Channel 4 news that voting "Leave" will have "serious consequences" for the price of an ice-cream.

Price of ice cream will go up if Britain leaves the EU, claims Unilever boss — https://t.co/nOXAAMkUbn. #InOrOut https://t.co/6YBvLw3HML

— Positives4EU (@positives4eu) June 8, 2016

"You will have import duties on dairy. Anybody from outside the EU has important duties that could be up to 40 per cent, 50 percent. So the price of dairy products will go up, the price of ice-cream will go up, and ultimately the consumer will pay the price for that," Polman said.

Another ice-cream manufacturer told Sputnik that British ice-cream makers are keen to sell to Europhiles.

That's my mind made up — Price of ice cream ‘would go up after Brexit' — The Irish News https://t.co/g7uOLJdZgX

— Simon Doyle (@5imonDoyl3) June 8, 2016

"We supply products into Europe, it's a growing market. For us, us we don't want to lose the opportunity to sell British products into Europe," James Gawthorpe, pub retailer and brewer Green King's account manager for ice cream makers Beach Deane, told Sputnik.

"Europe is a growing market for the dairy industry."

Despite the recent emergence of hotdog and burger flavored ice cream in the UK, the biggest flavor share of the market is the old-fashioned classic — vanilla.

British pub giant launches burger and hot dog flavored ice creams.

© Photo : Greene King Burger and Hot Dog Festival

"The UK's ice cream market is 90 percent vanilla. It's a very traditional market, however consumers are looking more into provenance. Growth is being driven by the premium dairy sector and people wanting better quality ice cream. Gawthorpe says salted caramel is "pretty vogue at the moment" and old fashioned English puddings like "sherry trifle" are also influencing new flavors," Deane told Sputnik.

Well, come on. #britishsummer pic.twitter.com/b9TMmTBigJ

— Camden's Daughter (@CamdensDaughter) May 31, 2016

But whether the cost of an ice cream will influence UK voters one way or another, only a typical British summer will tell.

Beautiful Day! #beach #retro #cornwall #icecream #seaside #weather #sun #illustration pic.twitter.com/73oPzydlaL

— Maria T illustrator (@dollybobble) May 5, 2016