Ice Cream
Unilever is the world's biggest ice cream manufacturer, with an annual turnover of €5 billion. With the exception of its U.S. brands Popsicle, Klondike, Ocean Spray ice cream, Slim Fast ice cream, Breyers, Starbucks and Ben & Jerry's, the bulk of the company's ice cream business falls under its "Heartbrand" brand umbrella, so called because of the brand's heart-shaped logo. Unilever currently operates eleven ice cream factories in Europe; the biggest include factories at Heppenheim in Germany, Caivano in Italy, St. Dizier in France, Gloucester in the United Kingdom and Santa Iria de Azóia in Portugal.
The Heartbrand was launched in 1998 (and slightly modified in 2003) as an effort to increase international brand awareness and promote cross-border synergies in manufacturing and marketing ("centralisation"). It is present in more than 40 countries. Although the logo is common worldwide, each country retained the local brand name so as to keep the familiarity built over the years, one notable exception being Hungary where the previous Eskimo brand was replaced with Algida in 2003.
In 2005, Glidat Strauss received special permission from Unilever to export their brand of ice cream to the United States because of the strict kosher certification the products in Israel have. Under terms of the agreement, Strauss ice cream and krembo may be sold only in kosher supermarkets and import shops. It is distributed in North America by Dairy Delight, a subsidiary of Norman's Dairy.
Prior to the heart logo, each country could choose its own logo, although the most common one consisted of a blue circle with the local brand's name over a background of red and white stripes; second most common old logo, used by Wall's in the UK and other countries, was a yellow logo with Wall's in blue text.
Unilever generally manufactures the same ice-cream with the same names, with rare occasions of regional availability, under different brands. Some of these ice-creams include Carte D'Or, Cornetto, Magnum, Solero, Twister and Viennetta.
Read more about this topic: List Of Unilever Brands
Famous quotes related to ice cream:
“She has been man’s slave. He has been educated at her expense. If he bought the ice cream, she was expected to pay for all his luxuries in reduced wages. She has done the drudgery and borne the insults of those who wronged her, assuming to be her protector.”
—Caroline Nichols Churchill (1833–?)
“In entertainment value, the Democratic clambake usually lays it over the Republican conclave like ice cream over parsnips.”
—Walter Wellesley (Red)
“...there was the annual Fourth of July picketing at Independence Hall in Philadelphia. ...I thought it was ridiculous to have to go there in a skirt. But I did it anyway because it was something that might possibly have an effect. I remember walking around in my little white blouse and skirt and tourists standing there eating their ice cream cones and watching us like the zoo had opened.”
—Martha Shelley, U.S. author and social activist. As quoted in Making History, part 3, by Eric Marcus (1992)