Glacier, Europe’s largest “pure-play” manufacturer of private-label and co-manufactured ice cream and frozen desserts, announced a €45 million investment programme that will expand production capacity, accelerate innovation and support international growth across its European operations. The investment will fund two new production lines in Italy to expand capacity in high-growth product categories, alongside investment in additional warehousing, automation capabilities and upgrades to cooling facilities at its Langemark site in Belgium. Glacier was formed by a merger of YSCO and Gelato d’Italia.
The new production lines will be dedicated to extruded ice creams and linear moulded ice lollies, to meet growing consumer demand for refreshing, fruit-based ice creams that offer a lighter, lower-calorie alternative while still delivering indulgence and enjoyment. The first line will produce spiral ice cream lollies and fruit-coated sticks, doubling the company’s manufacturing capacity in these formats. The second will expand Glacier’s water ice capabilities, increasing manufacturing speed while enabling the production of lollies with up to seven layered flavours.
Ice cream is one of the fastest-growing food categories across Europe, having grown steadily at c.3% per annum over past 10 years to almost €19bn in total sales. Consumers are continuing to seek out new formats, flavours and occasions as a result of changing consumer tastes and an increase in GLP-1 adoption. The company will also continue to evaluate opportunities to expand its international footprint through selective acquisitions and partnerships to ensure it is well-positioned to offer a broad range of products in different markets.
Other investments will be aimed at expanding the company’s capacity to produce ice cream bites, which are growing rapidly in popularity as consumers seek more snackable and shareable formats. The state-of-the-art bites line will be able to produce 50,000 bites an hour, increasing total capacity by 220m bites a year. The company already produces more than 50% of the rapidly expanding category, manufacturing for leading retailers and brand owners across Europe.
Longer term, Glacier is in the process of creating a dedicated innovation centre at its Cavriago site in Italy, establishing a collaborative space where customers can co-develop, refine and test new products alongside the company’s innovation teams. The site is currently in its final design stage with plans for completion by the end of the year.
The new facility will accelerate the speed at which Glacier can bring products to market, strengthen its market-leading product development capabilities and feature a multi-sensory kitchen and interactive studio where customers can taste new concepts while watching the product development process.
