The hottest product in Britain this year? A 2kg bag of ice

As the UK endured record-breaking temperatures this summer, nothing grew in popularity on Deliveroo like sacks of sweet relief from the supermarket Iceland

Age: The first patents for commercial mechanical production date to the 1850s.

Just normal ice, then. Ice in its most desirable form.

Cubes, you mean. A bag containing 2kg of ice cubes, as sold by the British supermarket Iceland.

What’s so desirable about that? “These ice cubes are better than anyone else’s and are great value for money,” according to a five-star review on Iceland’s website from Trevor P.

So Trevor likes ice. Not just Trevor. According to Deliveroo, Iceland’s 2kg ice bag was the “top trending” UK delivery order – a metric that marries year-on-year growth in orders, relative order volume in the local area and customer ratings – of 2026 so far.

Really? What came second? The diavola pizza from Monte Forte Neapolitan Pizza in Horsham, West Sussex.

How specific. But ice bag deliveries from Iceland were so popular in London that they came second in Deliveroo’s global ranking.

I guess it was a pretty hot summer. The hottest since records began.

How much would a 2kg bag of ice set me back on a scorching July afternoon? You can get one for £1 in the store.

That’s not bad, actually. But when you add in the Deliveroo surcharge, its small-order fee, the delivery fee, the bag charge and the service charge, it could cost as much as £8.

That’s ridiculous! As I’ve pointed out, you could get the same bag from the shop for a quid.

Yeah, but the shops are, like, hundreds of metres away. You could even make your own ice, in your own freezer, for a fraction of the cost.

But then I’d have to realise I’ll want a margarita hours before I do. I prefer to be spontaneous. Do you not see the irony of paying over the odds to have someone bring you a single bag of ice amid a climate crisis?

The climate crisis is why I want the ice. A climate crisis brought about in no small part by the rapacious demands of western consumerism, all because you can’t be bothered to fill your own ice trays?

OK, I do see the irony, but my hands are tied. No they aren’t! You can make better choices!

Anyway, it’s November now. I’m cold and I want soup. Well, the good news is you can probably make a lovely soup from things you already have in your kitchen.

I don’t like that kind of soup. What kind of soup do you like?

Soup from a man in a motorbike helmet. I despair.

Do say: “When we’re having ice delivered while the world burns, something is seriously wrong with our priorities.”

Don’t say: “This pizza from Horsham – can I get it delivered to Peterborough?”