Ice cream trailer: display, freezer and power
What you need to sell ice cream from a trailer: the display, the cold chain, power, the best pitches, VAT in your country and the Frost layout.
Romain BarreauFounder of Food Truck Store · 5 min readAn ice cream trailer sells on looks: a display facing the customer, ice cream that stays properly frozen, and a queue that forms as soon as the sun comes out. You need the right equipment, ready for the season. This guide covers what an ice cream trailer needs, from the display to the power supply, and what changes from one country to the next.
A trailer, not a van.
A trailer can stay on its pitch all season while you drive the car away. For an ice cream seller, that settles it.
- Category B licenceAt 750 kg, the AIR 220 can be towed on a category B licence, provided your car is allowed to tow it.
- No engineNo engine to service, and none to break down on the pitch.
- A clear starting priceThe Frost costs from €13,300 excl. VAT in the AIR 220 format, delivered with its European Certificate of Conformity.
- It stays putStock and display stay in place, and the car is free for everything else.
The display takes centre stage.
On the Frost, the display faces the customer, with the scoop rinser right next to it and the double sink behind: you can show, scoop and take payment without turning round. The Frost costs €13,300 in the AIR 220 format and €17,500 in the BOLD 270, excluding VAT.
- 7 tubsin the freezer display, facing the customer
- 123 Waverage power draw of the display
- 186 cmworktop unit with double sink
- €13,300the Frost AIR 220, excl. VAT ›
The cold chain is non-negotiable.
In Ireland, a freezer unit capable of reaching -18 °C is required wherever frozen food is sold, and the FSAI guidance on ice cream recommends that scoop ice cream can be displayed at -12 °C if it is stored for no more than a week (FSAI guidance note 16, section 4.3.9). The same note specifically covers vans and trailers selling soft whipped ice cream (section 5.2).
- A display that holds its temperature
Set for scoop ice cream on show, with a thermometer you can read from the outside.
- A freezer for stock
For topping up the tubs without breaking the cold chain; it fits in one of the two spaces provided.
- Power that keeps up
The display and freezer draw more power when they start up, so you need a reliable 230 V hook-up with both inlets connected, or a suitable generator.
Soft serve or scoop ice cream.
Soft serve comes from a machine and needs no display: it is quick and consistent, and suits an Essentiel with room for the machine. Scoop ice cream, served from tubs with a choice of flavours, calls for the Frost and its display; in a BOLD 270, the display and the machine can share the space.
The trailer as an ice cream bar, with a soft serve machine alongside.
VAT on ice cream, country by country.
The VAT on the ice cream you sell depends on your country, and it eats into your margin. In Ireland, take-away ice cream is charged at the standard rate, while hot takeaway food is at the second reduced rate (Revenue, current rates). In Sweden, a scoop of ice cream in a cone to take away is taxed as food (Skatteverket), as is take-away food in Norway, while Denmark has a single rate.
- 23%Ireland: take-away ice cream, at the standard rate
- 6%Sweden: food, including take-away scoop ice cream, since 1 April 2026
- 15%Norway: take-away food
- 25%Denmark: the single VAT rate
Where ice cream sellers make their season.
Order in winter, open in spring.
Autumn and winter give you time for the wrap, the paperwork and testing your recipes; an ice cream seller who opens in July has already lost part of the season. Winter is also the time to apply for pitches: in Ireland, you apply to the local authority for a casual trading licence at least 30 days before you start (Casual Trading Act 1995, section 6).
Our ice cream food truck page shows the Frost in detail, and the free FTS Academy quiz confirms the right layout for your menu.
The Frost, designed for ice cream.
A 7-tub display at the counter, a scoop rinser, a double sink and two spaces for your freezers: the layout ice cream sellers need, delivered with its European Certificate of Conformity. See it in our range of food truck trailers, and find out which dessert food truck suits your menu.
Same spot, every sunny day.
Your questions answered.
Got another question? Just ask us ›The Frost costs from €13,300 excl. VAT in the AIR 220 format and €17,500 in the BOLD 270, with its 7-tub display and scoop rinser.
Seven tubs, so seven flavours on show, with back-up stock kept in a freezer.
Not for the AIR 220: at 750 kg, a category B licence is enough if your car is allowed to tow it. The 1,000 kg BOLD 270 stays within category B with most cars; for the 1,500 kg version, depending on your car and your country, you need the B96 code or a BE licence.
Yes, with a machine in an Essentiel layout, or in a BOLD 270 alongside the display. Talk to us or your distributor to plan the power supply.
In Ireland, a freezer unit capable of reaching -18 °C is required wherever frozen food is sold, and the FSAI guidance recommends that scoop ice cream can be displayed at -12 °C if it is stored for no more than a week. Check the figures for your country with your food safety authority.
By Romain, founder 
