Do you buy 99s anymore?
Posted by MangoonianLord@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 129 comments
Do people even call it a 99 anymore? I worry it's another treat becoming too costly for families.
I remember as a child hearing the bells of the ice cream van and running out in my socks as my mother gave me a fiver to get the whole family (including the dog) some ice creams. I remember buying at least four large Mr Whippys with flakes (omitting the dog's one) and enjoying the cheap and cheerful ice cream.
I got my wife and me two large 99s the other day and it cost me £8. I can't believe the price has risen -that- high. Yes, overheads and prices increase over time, but I worry the traditional British treat is going to scare people away from continuing to support a traditionally working class treat.
tbhvandame@reddit
Sidebar- they shouldn’t be allowed to call them 99s ever since they started costing more than 99P it’s totally misleading.
eyesonly456@reddit
Local one wanted £5.50 for one the other day, that's firm no and I left it and I'm not exactly in a wealthy area either.
72dk72@reddit
Go to supermarket or Herron foods and by a 3 or 4 pack of own brand Cornettos for £2.
No way should a whippy cone be more than £2
ItsKingDx3@reddit
I get this sentiment but the issue is they're just not the same product. I don't even like whippy ice cream that much but an ice cream from a van just hits different, it's its own experience that can't be replicated.
I'm just flabbergasted, really. Feel so bad for the wee ones who don't get to enjoy life's simple pleasures because their parents either cannot afford or, quite rightly, would never pay such ridiculous fucking prices for ice cream.
eyesonly456@reddit
I think it's heron who do big boxes of magnums , I've seen those boxes on ice vans before and them selling. It's ridiculous
72dk72@reddit
What's even more ridiculous is soft drinks at a pub. I paid £4.20 for a coke last weekend. I could have bought nearly 6l for that price. It probably cost the pub about 20p as its draft. Beer was cheaper (but was driving).
orange_fudge@reddit
You’re not paying for a drink - you’re paying for a warm place to sit, someone to pour your drink and wash up, maybe a subscription to the footy, someone to stand there while you nurse your coke for a couple of hours…
robbob23@reddit
The number of people that still don’t understand this is staggering.
72dk72@reddit
I pay for a drink in a cafe too and its not £4.20. £3 maybe a reasonable cost. A coke should be less than a beer (a beer was £3.25) as its cheaper to supply.
lozz79@reddit
Problem is they tend to melt by the time you get to the park
cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit
They're probably 4.99s these days 🤷
Glorinsson@reddit
You wish. £6 here!
Im not even joking
cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit
Fuck and I thought I was taking the piss rightly.
pixpix89@reddit
This was London so I’ll give it that but we went last weekend and my son wanted an ice cream from the ice cream van. £8.
£8 for just the cone and the ice cream. No flake. No sprinkles. No sauce.
The Yorkshire in me would not spend £8 on an ice cream. Sorry kid.
Fluffy_Ad2274@reddit
Outside the BM the van was charging £10 in 2023. I was annoyed as I'd queued for fifteen minutes by that time - one scoop in a cone/ice lolly/can of fizzy drink: all a tenner each. Weirdly, I was the only person then to fuck it off - but may also have been that I was the only non-tourist so I could recognise this for what it was... Besides, for a tenner, I want Mr Whippy and a flake. At least twice.
ItsKingDx3@reddit
I'm sorry, a tenner each? A tenner for a can of mineral?! A tenner for an ice lolly?!
Shinkiro94@reddit
Jesus, I had a double large cone with 2 flakes for £3.50 earlier. £8 is beyond crazy
pixpix89@reddit
See £3.50 I would have caved. Moaned about it but still got it him.
cosmic_monsters_inc@reddit
You could get a whole tub for that!
pixpix89@reddit
Two if I went to Aldi!
AvatarIII@reddit
Wow I'm on the South coast and they're not even that much here. My local van does 3 sizes which range from £2.50 to £4.50
DangerousDisplay7664@reddit
Local ice cream van charges £5 for a 99. Not joking either! In West Wales.
ScarletHorizons@reddit
They're £2 here. £2.50 if you want toppings.
AvatarIII@reddit
Yeah that's the same for my local van, for a small, which is still a decent size.
LJA0611@reddit
Do people genuinely think it’s called a 99 because it was 99p
That would have been a very pricey ice cream 50 years ago
AvatarIII@reddit
The been around for to 100 years, that's long before decimalisation even. They were named after the street address of the ice cream parlour they were invented at.
HenshinDictionary@reddit
It would also have been a very odd amount to charge before decimalisation.
GooseMan1515@reddit
It was called the 8 shilling thruppence back then.
Cultural-Ambition211@reddit
A lot of millennials grew up with it being called a 99 and costing 99p, so you can see why they’d think that if they’d never looked into it before.
Neither_Process_7847@reddit
Always vaguely assumed that was why it was called that...does anyone know why sticking a flake in an ice cream cone made it a 99?
themcsame@reddit
Well, you're at an ice cream van. You're getting ice cream, that's essentially a given.
So an ice cream with a flake in it became the 99.
Why 99? That's what Cadbury's called their 'Ice Cream Flake', which is shorter and supposedly less crumbly than the regular flake, the 99 Flake.
Noobeater1@reddit
The story goes that the number 99 was associated with Italy, because some Italian King or other had 99 personal guards. Italy was associated with luxury, and ice cream is Italian so the story makes sense to me
Fluffanutz@reddit
Seemed pretty logical to a 10 year old me to be fair,
themcsame@reddit
Yes, they do.
Given the age of a lot of people on here as well, it probably wasn't an unreasonable assumption to come to whilst growing up.
Gone_For_Lunch@reddit
Indeed, going off the Bank of England’s inflation calculator £1 in 1976 is equivalent to £6.87 today.
KiwiShmiwi@reddit
Nah buy a half, love a 92.
tmr89@reddit
Should I start playing it again? You’ve just given me a nostalgia punch
TapeDeckSlick@reddit
Yes you should
DoxBolt@reddit
🦀
ibxtoycat@reddit
At least we know the price of a 99 can never go past 2.147 billion
Jam-Pot@reddit
Rs3 updated the cash limit.... so....
AuntieNigel_@reddit
God Ash approves
Zinex1766@reddit
Happy. I wasn't the only one to think of Osrs upon seeing the title
TapeDeckSlick@reddit
Why are you on reddit when you could be grinding slayer
LegendEater@reddit
Sort of related, but I get annoyed when people call it a "99 with a Flake". The 99 IS the Flake!
Lazy-Interests@reddit
I never used to get a 99 I used to get a popeye. But now as an adult I tend to go for a tub if I got to the ice cream van, especially since they discontinued Zzapps
pat8888@reddit
I remember reports of ice cream sellers ripping off tourists by charging them 99p
Moment_13@reddit
In my area it's £2.50 for a single cone whippy with a flake, but another 50p for sauce!
I've had 1 so far this Spring, I might have another couple through the summer on really hot days if the van comes at the right time but it almost always comes down my street at 5:30pm when I'm in the middle of cooking dinner.
PatserGrey@reddit
Yes, a couple times a week af this time of year. One of the vans around here only charges £1.50 for a small cone with flake. I'm actually surprised the other one who charges £2.50 still bothers to come around as everyone knows to actively avoid
SpudFire@reddit
Quite often have one on a Sunday if he turns up. £2.50 for a single with sauce and flake. Seems pretty reasonable to me
EternallySickened@reddit
I remember getting a double cone with flake, chocolate sprinkles and squirty sauce for 35p when I was a kid. Probably a fiver these days.
PoppyHatesTea@reddit
A few weeks ago, my coworkers and I heard the ice cream van coming down the road, so we got up from our desks to get a 99. As soon as we got out the door and were within arm’s reach of the van, he drove off. Bearing in mind our office is right by the front door, he left within about 30 seconds of stopping. I was, and still am, so mad. I’ve been craving one ever since!
tiggergirluk76@reddit
Just don't accidentally call it a 69 like my sister did 🙈
underwater-sunlight@reddit
Haven't had one for a good few years but it wasnt cheap. I'd rather get a nicer ice cream. I'm not too far from the coast and a double scoop cone, with big scoops and a massive selection of flavours is 4.50. Banana and honeycomb is my favourite there
lookhereisay@reddit
Locally it’s £4-£6 for a 99 (flake, no sauce/sprinkles) in a bog standard cone. There’s one outside my office in London that sells them for £8+ per cone!
Morganx27@reddit
Yeah, they're only about 2.59-3.50 by mine, and if you're eating Mr Whippy enough for it to massively cut into your budget you could probably stand to cut back a bit anyway.
Dr_Lovefist@reddit
9 quid for 2 ice creams? He’s going to get nowhere with that.
https://youtube.com/shorts/wMgNz9ZeY_Y?si=Glp7Z-AvoJn6Tv0V
BillWilberforce@reddit
The other thing is that in 2020 Cadbury's moved production of flakes to Egypt. Since then half of them have been useless and the ice cream sellers have to try and salvage the scraps somehow.
split-tennisball@reddit
Yes, we still buy ice cream.
MangoonianLord@reddit (OP)
But not 99s?
split-tennisball@reddit
If I fancy one, yes.
MangoonianLord@reddit (OP)
Happy you accurately answered the question rather than give a vague and inaccurate condensing answer initially.
aberdoom@reddit
Good job not lowering yourself to same level of condescension.
MangoonianLord@reddit (OP)
Thank you.
UniquePotato@reddit
99 is the length in mm of the flake, not the price
MangoonianLord@reddit (OP)
No one stated it was the price. It's also not confirmed why it's called a 99. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/99_Flake
Vehlin@reddit
My local ice cream man does a double 99 flake (double cone 2 flakes) for £3. So yes we get them fairly regularly
Antique_Location_514@reddit
i live in Devon but our mr whippys are i think as cheap as £1.50 at one of the sea front cafes! they also do huge trays for £6.99 i think or pots for £2.50/£3.50 depending on what you want
sidneylopsides@reddit
We get them when the van comes round, £2.50 and we get sauce, sherbet and sprinkles on too. He has a habit of turning up 10min before we sit down to eat though.
LivingPage522@reddit
Much preferred the oysters but apparently there was only one factory that made them and they discontinued them 😭😭😭
MangoonianLord@reddit (OP)
I loved them. Disappoint to hear they're no longer around.
EuphoricFly1044@reddit
kingkarl123@reddit
Looks like airy shite. No sauce either!
EuphoricFly1044@reddit
Lol
Upstairs-Quail5709@reddit
After A Levels and before college I did an ice cream van job. One day an old lady asked me for a 69. I suggested a 99 as it was better value.
W35TH4M@reddit
Do you want a lick of my cornetto
Stock-Magician1097@reddit
Was she giving you the eye?
W35TH4M@reddit
She looks like she could give you her actual eye
Upstairs-Quail5709@reddit
What flavour? Is it full of nuts?
davehemm@reddit
Probably better to call it a 399 or a 499 now?
Psycho_Splodge@reddit
Usually get one at bloodstock every year, and only one cause festival prices 🤣
ElfBlossom17@reddit
Where I am, the regular van charges £2.50 for a regular wafer cone, whippy ice cream and and a bit of flake but the vans who are stationary all day at the big local park charge £4.50 for the same thing.
MoominMai@reddit
Yeah every single one I’ve come across usually in a bit more touristy area is a minimum of £4.50! It’s so sad, as things like a Mr Whippy in the summer and fish n chips were the little things that helped brighten up our poor frugally lived lives and now we can’t even afford these things anymore?! 😭
ElfBlossom17@reddit
Yes! I was saying exactly this to my adult kids and a group we were with recently.
It's the little things that they remember fondly from childhood, the ice cream van, a 20p mix after school, a cone of chips ... these things just aren't little treats any more.
And people wonder why kids are depressed and anxious! They don't get a childhood any more as parents are both out working full time to afford the bare basics and granny still has to work cause she can't get her pension any more.
Then as soon as they're in reception year at school they have to sit still and pass tests... 🙄
Dramatic_Prior_9298@reddit
Yes and they're still 99s. £2.50.
Emotional_Butterf1y@reddit
Only buy 69s in Amsterdam.
PuzzleheadedLow4687@reddit
Whippy 99s are grim (both the "ice cream" and the "chocolate" flake). And overpriced.
I like ice cream but will only buy it as a treat where there is somewhere that does proper scoops of proper dairy ice cream, preferably locally made, with nice flavours. That is actually worth the price and tastes delicious.
bababababoos@reddit
No you're absolutely right. The majority of Mr Whippy is made out of this grim mix of vegetable fats, never to have seen a dairy product.
There's a small handful dotted around where I live on the coast that still do the proper cream-based stuff. But most of it is utter crap.
DaveL16@reddit
Mumsnet is over that away ➡️
Ok-Dog-4964@reddit
Agreed
BasisOk4268@reddit
Your body must be a temple
Brian-Kellett@reddit
Only when I go to where the Mu Mu mate. The children still cry ‘mine’s a 99’
___MorningLovely@reddit
I don't care if I pay in pennies, if the ice-cream man is about I'm having a 99 with raspberry sauce!
Sam-Lowry27B-6@reddit
They are £2 from the ice cream van that come around locally and judging by this thread I thought that was expensive but seems like I'm getting a bargain
Muclown@reddit
My local ice-cream man charged £1.50 for a 99 last year. Homemade ice-cream, flake, sweets, sherbert and sauces. Have yet to buy one this year but I can't imagine it will have gone up but I suppose I could stretch to £2.
He's been the ice-cream man for over 30 years and the family have a local cafe and make all their own ice-cream.
concretebeagle@reddit
There’s a nice little steak restaurant in Norwich that do a mini 99, for 99p. Almost every person has one, genius business idea.
72dk72@reddit
You can still get a proper ice-cream cone (proper ice cream that is) for under £3 on the North Norfolk Coast, in winter little.more than £2.
Competitive_Rub_9590@reddit
Can’t remember the last time we went out to the ice cream man tbh he comes up our street, plays he tune but no one goes out, I think it’s just a combination of them being overpriced and lack of disposable income
DangerousDisplay7664@reddit
Last time I bought a 99 it cost me £5. Not even joking. Local ice cream van. Never again!
DameKumquat@reddit
Once a year or so, because I can. Getting an ice-cream and a flake was pretty much unheard of when I was a kid - I was 16 or so when I first had one.
I was from a pretty middle class background but takeaway food was a big luxury!
FlatTyres@reddit
Not unless I have my lactase suppliments with me and even then I might buy or eat one offered to me only once a year.
As a kid I remember ice cream vans selling them for 99p and £1 where I lived and while I understand they aren't named 99 for pricing reasons, I used to think they were so was a bit reluctant to buy them as they went over £1. By the time they were regularly costing £2 I needed to run to the toilet after enough licks.
e-pancake@reddit
yessss, there are a lot of elderly people down my street so less kid customers so I find it my duty to let the ice cream van driver know that there is interest down the street so that they keep coming lol. £3.50, which stings, but I can take the hit because they’re majestic
Responsible-Ad-1086@reddit
We bought a couple at the ice cream Kiosk at Littlehampton by the river, were only £4 and the biggest ones we have ever eaten
Neddlings55@reddit
Yes, but my dog no longer gets one to himself. He has to have the last little bit of cone and be thankful for it.
MeltingChocolateAhh@reddit
I spent like just over £10 on 2 doubles and a single 99 the other day. Quite heartbreaking but everyone was happy.
Chunkylover0053@reddit
the real annoying thing is that for the mr whippy texture of a 99 flake they just add air. so you're paying extra for a product that someone has added up to 60% air!
LittleSadRufus@reddit
Wait until you hear that beer is 95% water! You can get that shit out the tap.
atsevoN@reddit
😂😂
GeggingIn@reddit
Definitely. The ice cream van stops just outside the house.
Considering their costs, £3.50 for two flakes, two scoops and strawberry sauce doesn’t seem unreasonable.
destria@reddit
Very very occasionally, I'll just have a hankering for one and I'm okay paying the crazy price for these one-offs.
Lucasmann@reddit
We get a double cone with 2 flakes for £2.50 from our local, pretty great value.
sihasihasi@reddit
Of course. I do wince if asked "with or without a flake?", though!
MisterD90x@reddit
Let me just remortgage the house first
Tall_Stick5608@reddit
I think the business model of an ice cream van isn’t the best in the UK especially in 2026. Overheads, insurance, diesel. At this point it’s much easier to go a fixed location. All around London you can get a good quality soft serve for about half the price a van charges and high quality gelato for just a fraction more.
Romfordian@reddit
Dang! How much is an oyster these days?
Jesisawesome@reddit
I love a 99 and totally agree with everything you have said.
BG3restart@reddit
They're £3.50 from the ice cream van that stops at the corner of my street when the sun is shining. I buy one whenever I hear him.
BasisOk4268@reddit
It’s 1.99 these days but I still just ask for a 99
JohnLennonsNotDead@reddit
It wasn’t called a 99er because it was 99p, the name goes back to the 1930s.
Livid-Needleworker65@reddit
Yes, sometimes. The ice cream van is down our street quite often. It's £5. I know it's not the best, but the nostalgia makes it more enjoyable.
Timely_Egg_6827@reddit
It's getting dear but yes, we have a local icecream van who does the rounds in summer. My partner knows to go get me one. About £3 - a lot depends on what the council is charging them for a pitch/round. I tend to just get the ice cream and cone though - used to get oyster but sadly no more.
Asleep-Software-4160@reddit
If it was 99p when you were a child, is it that surprising that it is £4 now you are old enough to have a wife?
I'll get one if I want one, but would prefer the big tub of raspberry ripple for £1.50 from the supermarket.
anotheraccount999999@reddit
I will, but only once or twice a year now they want a fiver for them 😅 better for my waistline i guess!
ross-dirext-words137@reddit
Priceing gas got insane. Even the freezer box of 4 version is over £1 no in Tesco
Time-Invite3655@reddit
My son is allergic to milk, so we don't often even look at ice cream vans. However, we passed one in the park a couple of weeks ago (in quite a deprived area of Manchester) and he was selling 99s for £5 each. I was shocked! The last time I bought one, it was around £3 or so - and that was beside the seaside, so you expect to pay a premium.
Z1L0G@reddit
No, they were ok when cheap but too much to spend now on shit quality ice cream. You can get a proper one (gelato) for only a tiny bit more. Or I'll just have a Magnum or Calippo or something.
Mysterious_County154@reddit
I would if they would stop down my street but they never do
JeffreyEpsteinUK@reddit
They are called 3.49's now. Get with the times.
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