Unilexer UL \"3095 1" PLC, which owns Ben S: J erry's, Magnum and Ereyers, has for years sought ways to make its frozen desserts more popular during the coldest months of the year. That effort is getting a new boost from the company's push to keep selling ice cream to customers who would previously have bought cones at the park, beach or movie theater but have instead stayed home because of the pandemic. The U.K.based company, whose other brands include Klondike and Popsicle, is rolling out more collection points to meet standalone orders from consumers on the couch for its pints and icecream bars via delivery apps like Uber Eats. It has also been striking deals with restaurant chains like Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen and Pizza Hut to get its treats on delivery menus. It is shifting its marketing and production lines to focus more on athome consumption, researching formulations that are less likely to melt in transit and encouraging drivers to use insulated bags when delivering ice cream alongside hot pizza. Unilever's current pitch: Homebound consumers can order and eat ice cream with little regard for the weather. \"It is the simple thought that it's always 20 degrees [Celsius] on your sofa,\" said Mr. Close. That is equivalent to 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Hoping to appeal to consumers stuck in front of the TV, the company earlier this year launched a Ben S: J erry's avor called Netix and Chill'd: peanut butter ice cream with pretzels and brownies. Unilever's outofhome ice cream sales dropped 13% in the third quarter because of the pandemic but its at-home sales rose 16%. Without disclosing the two businesses' dollar values, the company said they are roughly equal in size. The company noticed a jump in online ice cream orders in China after CovidIQ hit, said Mr. Close. As it became apparent the illness was spreading globally, he and other executives strategized about how much production capacity could be diverted away from products intended for parks and movie theaters, toward pints and multipacks typically ordered for the home. Factories switched up shift patterns and packaging machinery and changed the way they ran min plants. The company also rapidly expanded a global unit set up four years ago to get ice cream to consumers at home, ideally within 30 minutes. Ice Cream Now uses spare freezer space in convenience, liquor and gasstation stores to fulll orders placed on delivery apps. Americans see the locations listed on Uber Eats, DoorDash Grubhub and Postmates as \"The Ice Cream Shop.\" In the UK. they're listed as \"The Dessert Shop.\" Unilever provides stores with freezers if necessary. The most popular time for orders is after 10 p.m., so locations must be open late. That program now has 6,500 collection pointsmainly in the 0.5., China, Australia and the U. K.up from 2,000 at the start of the year. The business is also targeting consumers at parks and beaches who might not be near a vendor, and executives want to push the service as a way for people to send ice cream as a gift in the way they might cupcakes or owers