Ice cream vendor flogs Mr Whippy cones for lower than £1

A savvy ice cream seller has whipped up a frenzy after she started selling soft-cream cones for less than £1 — while other parlours charge close to £10 for the frozen treats.

Juliette Foote, 26, claims to sell the cheapest ’99s’ in the south west of England at her King of Hearts store in Weymouth, Dorset.

She and her business partner Sam Jones have brought back the nostalgia of the 1990s by offering Mr Whippys for just 99p — or with a chocolate flake for an extra 20p.

Juliette introduced the price drop last summer and now regularly has queues of people outside the shop on sunny weekends.

Although she doesn’t make as much profit on her ice creams Juliette said it helps bring people into the shop.

‘We started selling them at £2.50 and we weren’t selling that much, Juliette said.

‘We didn’t need to be charging that because we are not an ice cream shop, we are a seaside gift shop.

‘In the 1990s, ice creams for 99p were a big thing. We started charging 99p and the attraction it drew was insane, we just continued to do it.

‘People will either have an ice cream now or come back from the beach, they might then pick up a bucket and spade, a fudge or a magnet.

‘We have been told it does bring people to the street, people being on the street helps the other businesses too.

‘A lot of people walk past and say how nostalgic it is that it is back to 99p.’

The humble 99er was once synonymous with a sunny day, with children and adults across the UK heading to an ice-cream van to get a cone of soft serve and a Cadbury Flake for less than a £1.

But times have changed and what was once a cheap summer treat, can now cost anything up to £10.

Amorino, who have shops across the UK, charge up to £9.20 for a soft serve sundae when ordered on Deliveroo. They offer a create your own option, as well as classic flavours like vanilla, caramel, strawberry and lemon.

Also pushing £10 is British Patagonia in north London’s trendy district of Islington.

Meanwhile, Tsjuri in Manchester’s Chinatown sells matcha softserve for £6.50, while a scoop in Moo Pie in Edinburgh will set you back £4.50 – although it does come with a topping. 

London has the most expensive Mr Whippy at £4.10 on average, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at £2.90, Swansea at £2.70 and Edinburgh at £2.50.

The cheapest Mr Whippy can be found in Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon in Northern Ireland at £1.90 on average. This is closely followed by the West Midlands at £2.00, as well as Newry, Mourne and Down and Fife.

Safran Siddik, who manages an ice cream stall in Hyde Park owned by the Royal Parks, said he would not be able to afford one of his ice-creams.

The charity charges £3.65 for a single 99 cone and £4.60 for a double.

The 20-year-old he is used to customers complaining about his sky-high prices.

He told MailOnline: ‘It’s been three years. Every year the prices go up – of everything. Not just ice cream. Everything we’re selling.

‘I wasn’t here, in this country, when soft ice was 99p – but every time I remember, they make little jokes that: ‘Oh, this used to be 99p.’ I’m like – that was 10, 15 years ago now.

‘You’ll never find something that costs a pound out here any more, especially soft ice. Everybody wants it. 

Juliette added: ‘The only one I could find for 99p for June is Scarborough. I had done extensive research before I put that out (the sign).

‘Until someone tells me otherwise I am going for the cheapest in the south west.

‘They are the cheapest in town, the cheapest I have seen elsewhere is £2 without a flake.

‘We only sell a small cone, some people ask for a large but this is 99p, it is a bargain whatever size it is.

‘Last weekend we did 220 Mr Whippys on the Saturday and we are averaging about 100 a day.

‘Even being at that price we could be selling more than if we had them for £2.50 and balancing out the cost, we are not losing anything.’

She said she researched ice cream shops across the country before putting up a sign boasting of being the cheapest in south west England.

Juliette added: ‘I had done extensive research before I put that out (the sign).The only one I could find for 99p is in Scarborough.

‘Until someone tells me otherwise I am going for the cheapest in the south west.

‘They are the cheapest in town, the cheapest I have seen elsewhere is £2 without a flake.’

There is a theory that the ’99’ ice creams got their name from the elite guard of Italy, which consisted of 99 men.

 Subsequently, anything that was extra special became known as a ’99’, so when ice cream vendors started adding a Cadbury’s flake to a standard cone they declared them ’99s’.