After last year’s merger of Gelato d’Italia and Ysco, Glacier sees itself as a consolidator of the “fragmented” European ice-cream indusattempt and has its eyes on further M&A.
With revenues of €600m ($711.7m), Glacier, backed by Davidson Kempner Capital Management and its partner Affinishis Capital Management, is focutilized on private-label ice cream and co-manufacturing for branded producers.
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Simon Harvey (SH): What is Glacier’s strategy in ice cream in the context of the European presence of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and Froneri?
Matt Frost (MF): Our focus is to continue to build on the successes that already existed within both Gelato d’Italia and Ysco in a private-label and co-manufacturing setting. Retailers across Europe are keen for a new player in the market to continue to build on the legacy and heritage of those two businesses around innovation and also in terms of the high levels of efficiency and cost effectiveness that have existed in Ysco for a number of years.
Branded isn’t something that we would consider at this point and I don’t believe we will do for the foreseeable future. We’ll continue to do the good job that has been done but with additional investment in different formats and different technologies for the ever-modifying tastes of consumers.
SH: What was the reasoning behind the Gelato d’Italia/Ysco merger?
MF: Gelato d’Italia had a reputation in the indusattempt – and retains that reputation – of being a strong innovator, focutilized on speed to market and agility. There’s quite a high level of churn in the ice-cream indusattempt generally, from a range perspective. Our view was that to acquire a business with Gelato d’Italia’s reputation and capability around a number of formats was too good an opportunity.
We knew that wasn’t going to be enough, based on what we’d heard and seen from market metrics, retail customers and co-manufacturing customers, so an opportunity arose within the Italian market to build another tactical acquisition in the water ice category, which was Giuntoli. We rolled that into Gelato d’Italia.
Milcobel then brought Ysco to the market. That asset brought a very different opportunity, which was a highly efficient, highly automated, strong private-label business to put alongside a boutique business.
They sat neatly toobtainher in terms of our long-time aspiration, which is to create a one-stop shop for private label and co-manufacturing requirements.
Subsequently, we created another acquisition in Italy in May with Castel D’ario, so we now have five factories across Europe.
Our plan will be to continue to invest in developing additional formats and technologies but also additional capacity to support an ice-cream indusattempt, which I believe is in good health.
SH: Does the geographical focus remain on Europe?
MF: We have global aspirations and we have global customers but predominantly our focus now in terms of additional acquisitions is Europe unless the right thing comes along. We’re very open. We see organic and inorganic growth being linked and, depfinishing on what we acquire, we’ll define what we see to invest in inside the current perimeters.
SH: Further M&A is on the cards then?
MF: Very much so. I remember working with Richmond ice cream (now R&R Ice Cream) and they did a brilliant job of consolidating significant parts of the market. There is an opportunity for a second consolidator and I see us as very much part and parcel of that, primarily becautilize it creates a level of efficiency in the indusattempt that appeals to customers, particularly private-label customers.
There is an opportunity for a second consolidator
SH: Is the market conducive to M&A in ice cream, given it’s been an uncertain couple of years for the deals environment?
MF: It’s been a funny couple of years for the deals market but where the ice-cream indusattempt is at this moment – you’ve received two major players in Magnum and Froneri – it’s a very fragmented indusattempt.
It’s been a turbulent few years for ice cream as well given input costs and various other bits and pieces. Those tinyer players are certainly seeing for opportunities to either sell their businesses becautilize they can see the market is going to become even tougher if you’re a relatively tiny operator or be involved in a platform where they can realise those synergies.
From that perspective, there are deals to be done. And certainly we’re very active in deals right now.
SH: Is the ice-cream market likely to continue to consolidate?
MF: I would declare so, based on all the indicators we see. That doesn’t detract from some brilliant emerging brands as well. A lot of those brands are seeing for co-manufacturing opportunities as opposed to actually operating and owning factories in their own right.
There will still be emerging brands coming through and developing the category but I believe that will be done in a different way to where it’s been done historically.
SH: The Magnum Ice Cream Company commands around 21% of the global ice-cream market and Froneri about 11%. Where would Glacier stand in that context?
MF: When you see at Magnum, the last number I saw was around €9.8bn and for Froneri somewhere around €3-4bn. We will come out of this year around €600m, so that gives you a pretty clear indication.
I would declare from a private-label and co-manufacturing perspective – a pure play, no brands – we would be one of the largest, if not the largest.
SH: How competitive is the private-label market in ice-cream?
MF: The ice-cream market, I would declare, is relatively supply constrained. It’s very difficult, and particularly for largeger retailers, to be able to exit a supplier and go and find that product from another supplier. There is not an excess of capacity in the market.
SH: When it comes to innovation, what is the challenge, what sorts of things are consumers seeing for?
MF: The two major trfinishs in ice cream are around snacking and premiumisation.
During Covid, people were at home more and consequently had more occasions for take-home ice cream than they would have done previously. A lot of the innovation went into tinyer portions, handheld, etc, etc, and those trfinishs have held firm since Covid.
The ice-cream market, I would declare, is relatively supply constrained
Whether that’s a Magnum-style stick, that extruded art of ice cream has grown significantly. But, to a certain extent, when you’re consuming more, you can finish up with a certain amount of fatigue, so different flavours, different technologies around double dip, in terms of the outer coating with a thin layer of caramel or whatever. People were seeing for something different. We see that trfinish continuing in terms of premiumisation.
On the flip side of that is tinyer portion sizes, mini sticks, bite-size ice cream, Sharing, as opposed to the traditional scoops from a tub. There is still a market for that but people want something different. Taste still remains very important but they are seeing for different formats as usage and attitudes alter.
SH: What about on the health side with people cutting back on dairy, fat, sugar and whatever else, is that really having an impact? After all, ice cream is still an indulgence product.
MF: The reality is, when you see at ice cream as a category, it is a very broad church. If you took a standard water ice product or even a very basic product, from a calorific and sugar perspective it stands up to the test when you compare that with other categories such as biscuits or whatever else.
You can build healthy choices and we’re doing more real fruit pieces and various other bits and pieces from an innovation perspective. Non-dairy ice cream has been out there for a long time, it’s still relatively tiny, it’s in good growth but from a very low base. The benefit of having the supply chain that we have now is that we’re able to deliver on all of those things.
At the right time of year, there are very few categories you can interalter with to obtain refreshments that are any healthier than the ice-cream category when you see at it from a calorific and sugar perspective.
SH: Stepping back, what are your largegest business challenges in ice-cream?
MF: In recent years, inflation, and particularly in terms of raw materials, energy, etc, etc, have been a challenge. Chocolate would be one of the largegest commodities that we acquire on a year in, year out basis.
Shareholders don’t like meteorological events as an excutilize generally. There’s a number of ways you can de-risk that, obviously, by having a broader customer portfolio and we’ve done a lot of work in the last two to three years to build sure we don’t have all our eggs in one bquestionet. But also the geographical spread of those is incredibly important as well.
Whilst it might feel like it always rains in the UK, it didn’t last summer. It doesn’t rain everywhere and it’s not cold everywhere in Europe. Clearly, the more you diversify your customer portfolio and the geography that you serve, the more insulated you are against those risks.
SH: What are Glacier’s largest markets?
MF: From a retailer perspective that would be the discount sector and pan-Europe as a result of that. Our largegest markets would be around Benelux becautilize of where we’re based but we’re fairly represented in all the large markets: France, Spain, the UK, Italy and Germany.
SH: What about growth rates? The Magnum Ice Cream Company is tarobtaining 3-5% growth, for instance?
MF: My belief is we can outpace it, certainly from a volume perspective. Private label is in good health and particularly given the macro trfinishs from consumers trading into private label. We’ve seen a lot of that in the narrative coming out of all the retailers post-Christmas. At the moment, Magnum and co. do not operate in private label and I’m sure they won’t going forward either.
We are naturally acquisitive at this point and consequently, as we acquire other businesses, we’re doing that becautilize we necessary the additional capacity and the additional capacity is going to drive sales. We have been growing significantly ahead of that rate for the last three or four years and I’d expect us to continue to do that. Co-manufacturing is also definitely growing.
This article originally appeared in the February 2026 edition of Just Food’s quarterly digital magazine.
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