Unilever dominates the global ice cream market – but while the demerger of The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC) has been delayed, its closest rival Froneri has been making all the right moves in a tough consumer environment.
Froneri, a 50:50 joint venture between Nestlé and private equity firm PAI Partners, excelled in FY2024 thanks to success in premium and healthy snacking, increased marketing investment, and efficiency improvements.
Sales volumes grew 3%, revenue shot up 5.5%, and cash flow increased by around 43% to around €1.3m (FY2023: €886m). After-tax profit rose by around €392 million – an eightfold turnaround compared to FY2023’s loss of ~€48 million – and all but three of Froneri’s 25 global markets recorded revenue growth.
For Nestlé, its 50% stake in the ice cream business delivered a healthy dividend of €2.1bn, easing the global CPG major’s net debt.
This trading year, Froneri did not disclose specific figures but reported in its mid-year update that gross profit, sales and EBITDAE were up YoY, driven by price with volume ‘relatively flat’.
The company’s momentum has also piqued investor interest. In October 2025, PAI struck a €3.6bn deal to restructure its 50% stake and bring in state-linked Abu Dhabi Investment Authority as a minority investor. Froneri also completed a €4.25 billion debt raise to bolster its finances through a mixture of bonds, loans and revolving credit facility.
In many ways, Froneri’s operating model provides a blueprint for what Unilever can achieve with TMICC. So what is the Nestlé co-owned company doing right?
Froneri facts
Froneri was formed in September 2016 as a 50:50 joint venture between Nestlé and R&R Ice Cream (owned by PAI Partners since 2013).
To form the JV, Nestlé and R&R contributed their ice cream businesses across Europe, the Middle East (excluding Israel), Argentina, Australia, Brazil, the Philippines and South Africa to form the company. Nestlé also contributed its Swiss frozen food business, as well as its chilled dairy business in the Philippines.
In January 2020, Nestlé sold to Froneri its US ice cream business, including brands Häagen-Dazs and Dreyer’s, for $4 billion.
In 2020, Froneri acquired Nestlé’s Puerto Rico ice cream business and disposed of the Swiss frozen foods business to focus exclusively on ice cream.
In 2024, Froneri acquired Uruguay ice cream company Crufi.
In 2025, the company announced it would buy the ice cream business of Latvian dairy major Food Union.
A global pure-play ice cream company
Froneri is already what TMICC wants to be – a company focused exclusively on ice cream.
The venture initially bundled together Nestlé’s ice cream and frozen foods business with R&R Ice Cream’s expertise in manufacturing and retail.
Over time, Froneri sharpened its focus on ice cream by disposing of Nestlé’s frozen foods arm and making strategic acquisitions.
The JV took ownership of Nestlé’s US branded portfolio – including premium ice cream leader Haagen Dazs; entered Uruguay by acquiring Crufi; and in October 2025, agreed a deal for Food Union’s ice cream business, which will unlock markets in the Baltics and Scandinavia.
This strategy, underpinned by careful expansion, focus on high-growth segments, and investment in international brands, has yielded steady growth.
Today, Froneri is the second largest overall player in ice cream and the biggest in private label ice cream.
Brand and marketing power
Unilever owns four of the five biggest brands in ice cream, but Froneri’s branded portfolio is strong, too.
The company’s A-brands – including Drumstick, Haagen-Dazs, Outshine and Oreo – grew sales by nearly 8% in FY2024 thanks to targeted marketing and capital investment.
Brand battles
Froneri’s A brands comprise Cadbury, Connoisseur, Drumstick, Extrême, Häagen-Dazs (in the US), Maxibon, Milka, Mövenpick, Nuii, Oreo and Outshine. The company has a license with Mondelez to produce and sell ice cream products in the US.
Unilever owns Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, Well’s, Cornetto, Breyers and Yasso among others. The company’s ice cream business has branded license agreements with Hershey, Mars, Mondelez, and Disney.
The US is a key market for Froneri where it sees the biggest growth opportunities. Since its inception, the JV has spent around $880m to improve manufacturing and capacity in premium and snacking products. The improved capacity in the US helped drive sales in premium snacking for Froneri, said CEO Phil Griffin.
Toe to toe
Froneri claims to be the US market’s leading ice cream player - but TMICC also claims the #1 market position in the Americas, based on Euromonitor and NIQ FY24 data.
But marketing has played a crucial role in Froneri’s branded ice cream success.
From Super Bowl adverts – for Drumstick in 2024 and Haagen Dazs in 2025 – to recruiting actor Jason Momoa as brand ambassador for Nuii and making Drumstick the most-liked ice cream brand on TikTok, Froneri boosted brand equity, particularly across its premium and snacking brands.
Premium and healthy snacking
Premium snacking is where the game is at in ice cream today – with the highest category growth taking place in the premium segment. Froneri plays with Haagen-Dazs (in the US) and Nuii among others; while TMICC has Magnum, Ben & Jerry’s, and Talenti in premium brand stable.
Haagen-Dazs is crucial for Froneri in the US, where the brand is #1 in the premium snacking segment with a market share of over 38% and sales of $1.4bn in FY2024. Drumstick is the top cones brand in the US while elsewhere, Nuii is the #2 premium sticks brand in Europe.
Ice cream market value
The global ice cream market is worth around €75bn of the entire €470bn snacking market. Source: Euromonitor
Healthy snacking – and particularly, fruit snacking – is another potential growth avenue for Froneri.
Outshine in the US, Rowntree’s in the UK and Pirulo globally are the company’s three big bets – with Outshine recording a leading value share in US healthy snacking in 2024 and growing penetration among millennial households.
As Unilever awaits the end of the US government shutdown to proceed with its planned ice cream demerger, Froneri eyes new markets in Europe through the acquisition of Food Union’s ice cream business, and new efficiency and capacity improvements in Israel through the completion of its factory ahead of Summer 2026.
How would the two global ice cream majors compete next year remains to be seen – but focus on premiumization looks set to continue for both, as does expansion into mini, healthy, and premium snacking formats.
TMICC has been transparent about leveraging AI to bolster its new product development capabilities – while Froneri has unlocked impressive growth by boosting manufacturing efficiencies in key markets and focusing on marketing and celebrity endorsements for its big brands.
The investor and business community will be watching closely, but consumers will ultimately decide if each company’s output will be a hit – or a miss.
