Viral ice cream sparks a sales boom in Christchurch

Some Christchurch dairies have experienced up to a 90% increase in sales after a fruit ice cream trend went viral.

The Hong Qi original fruit shaped ice creams have been grabbing attention worldwide through TikTok for their fruitlike aesthetic and taste. The ice creams are available in Mango, Peach, Strawberry and Lemon from the Fruitae brand. With South Island supermarkets yet to stock the ice creams, Cantabrians were left flocking to their local dairies who had the supply. 

Owner of Megha Discounter Richmond, John Patel, received his first stock on August 8 and posted a TikTok video to share the news. That night he had a queue outside, selling hundreds of boxes. He had completely sold within a few days.

The viral ice creams come in a variety of different flavours. PHOTO: JOHN PATEL

But supplying and stocking an international viral ice-cream is not all profit. Patel said the supplier margin increased dramatically compared to the original sale price. This meant that the ice cream was very expensive to buy. From a small business perspective, Patel said “no one wanted to take that risk".

Hillmorton Superette owner Akash Savaliya noticed a similar issue.

“We had a 90% increase in sales [in the first week of selling the viral ice-cream] compared to the previous week," he said.

But the high cost of buying the ice creams in the first place meant it wasn't worth it, he said.

Both shop owners mentioned that TikTok was a great tool for marketing the viral ice creams at their business, and say other small businesses who aren’t using TikTok should consider it.  

Due to high demand, both stores are out of stock of all the flavors until this Thursday. 

 The ice creams also hit the headlines in recent days after the lemon sorbet flavor batch with a December 10 2026 expiry date was recalled by the Ministry for Primary Industries due to an undeclared milk allergen.