Mövenpick Ice Cream () is a brand of ice cream of Swiss origin produced initially by Nestlé. Since 2016, Froneri - a joint venture between Nestlé and R&R Ice Cream - manufactures it.
History
The first Mövenpick restaurant opened in Zürich on 19 July 1948 by Ueli Prager. By 1958, they had eight restaurants located throughout Switzerland. Prager would remain operating manager of the Mövenpick group, now called Mövenpick Hotels & Resorts, until 1991.
Originally, in the 1960s, the ice cream was produced by the Mövenpick group for restaurant sales only. The plant in Bursins was built in 1972, however, production has now been shifted to a larger unit in Rorschach.
In 1974, Mövenpick was licensed in Germany by ice cream manufacturer, Theo Schöller, later known as Scholler Lebensmittel GmbH & Co KG. In 2002, EU regulators reviewed, and later approved, Nestlé's purchase of the Scholler Holding Group from Sudzucker, including licensing to sell Mövenpick in some European countries. The decision was made because while the merger would strengthen Nestlé's positioning in the ice cream market, Unilever's role in the market would ensure continued strong competition in the sector.
In March 2000, Mövenpick acquired the Auckland-based Chateau Creme Delight Ice Cream company.
In 2002, Bauer was licensed to distribute and market Mövenpick in the United Kingdom.
In April 2003, Nestlé bought the international rights for Mövenpick ice cream from the hotel group, and an independent business unit called "Swiss Premium Ice Cream" was created. The buy-out contract did not include the New Zealand manufacturing facilities.
As of 2014, the business was operated by a subsidiary called "Nestlé Super Premium", headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. In 2016, it was one of the brands that Nestlé contributed to a new joint venture with R&R Ice Cream, called Froneri.
Production and distribution
The main production site is in Switzerland. Halal production for the Middle East takes place at the Nestlé factory in Egypt.
The company has partnered licensing agreements in Germany, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia.
In February 2006, Nestlé Schöller announced a newly patented type of "conching" process. The conchier process uses temperature reduction and slow, constant two-wave stirring to develop microscopic ice crystals and bubbles as the ice cream freezes. Minimising the need for large ice crystals reduces the required fat content by 30 to 40%, so the process creates low-fat ice cream, but with a creamy consistency and intense taste. The process was used to reduce the fat content in Bourbon Vanilla, Chocolate Chips, Erdbeer (strawberry) Cream and Maple Walnuts flavors. Machinery at the Uelzen factory was upgraded at a cost of 5 to 6 million euros. In 2007, the conchier process was introduced to create "Decorative" category flavors with less than ten percent fat content: Cioccolata Straccietella, Caramel Brulee, Marzipan Chocolate and Chocolate Rum-Grape-Nut. This ice cream, in recent years, has shifted from sugar to glucose syrup in their ingredient list.
In July 2017, Emerald Foods (Australia) Pty Ltd. purchased the master franchise rights for the Mövenpick parlours in Australia from Peters Ice Cream. Peters continued as the Mövenpick distributor for other channels in Australia.
Contracted production
Canada
In the 1990s, Mövenpick-branded products were made at plants in Simcoe, Ontario. Production was managed by Beatrice Foods, whose ice cream division was bought in 1994 by Good Humor-Popsicle (a child company of Unilever).
In 2001, Delicious Alternative Desserts Ltd. (DAD) received the contract to co-pack Mövenpick products in Canada, in packaging customised to the region. DAD was placed in receivership in 2002. Bankruptcy trustee KPMG continued limited production of Mövenpick at Stoney Creek Dairy, which was purchased by Better Beef Ltd. in February 2002. Better Beef was sold to Cargill Inc. in 2005, and the dairy was purchased by Creme Glacee Lambert in 2009, and closed in 2010.
Egypt
In 2013, Nestlé upgraded their ice cream factory in Egypt, where Mövenpick ice creams are produced for export to Malaysia.
Germany
Nestlé produces Mövenpick ice cream in Germany, but sold part of its licensing and production facilities for trade brands to ice cream manufacturer Rosen Eiskrem GmbH of Waldfeucht-Haaren in January 2007. The co-packing agreement and sale included plants in Nurnberg and Prenzlau. Nestlé Schöller remained at their Nurnberg headquarters, and retained their Uelzen plant.