“we Are Acquisitive…and Active In Deals Right Now” – Glacier’s Matt Frost On Europe’s Ice-cream Market

Glacier executive head Matt Frost. Credit: Glacier

After past year’s merger of Gelato d’Italia and Ysco, Glacier sees itself arsenic a consolidator of nan “fragmented” European ice-cream manufacture and has its eyes connected further M&A.

With revenues of €600m ($711.7m), Glacier, backed by Davidson Kempner Capital Management and its partner Afendis Capital Management, is focused connected private-label crystal pick and co-manufacturing for branded producers.

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Simon Harvey (SH): What is Glacier’s strategy successful crystal pick successful nan discourse of nan European beingness of The Magnum Ice Cream Company and Froneri?

Matt Frost (MF): Our attraction is to proceed to build connected nan successes that already existed wrong some Gelato d’Italia and Ysco successful a private-label and co-manufacturing setting. Retailers crossed Europe are keen for a caller subordinate successful nan marketplace to proceed to build connected nan bequest and practice of those 2 businesses astir invention and besides successful position of nan precocious levels of ratio and costs effectiveness that person existed successful Ysco for a number of years.

Branded isn’t thing that we would see astatine this constituent and I don’t deliberation we will do for nan foreseeable future. We’ll proceed to do nan bully occupation that has been done but pinch further finance successful different formats and different technologies for nan ever-changing tastes of consumers.

SH: What was nan reasoning down nan Gelato d’Italia/Ysco merger?

MF: Gelato d’Italia had a estimation successful nan industry – and retains that reputation – of being a beardown innovator, focused connected velocity to marketplace and agility. There’s rather a precocious level of churn successful nan ice-cream manufacture generally, from a scope perspective. Our position was that to get a business pinch Gelato d’Italia’s estimation and capacity astir a number of formats was excessively bully an opportunity. 

We knew that wasn’t going to beryllium enough, based connected what we’d heard and seen from marketplace metrics, unit customers and co-manufacturing customers, truthful an opportunity arose wrong nan Italian marketplace to make different tactical acquisition successful nan h2o crystal category, which was Giuntoli. We rolled that into Gelato d’Italia. 

Milcobel past brought Ysco to nan market. That plus brought a very different opportunity, which was a highly efficient, highly automated, beardown private-label business to put alongside a boutique business.

They sat neatly together successful position of our long-time aspiration, which is to create a one-stop shop for backstage explanation and co-manufacturing requirements.  

Subsequently, we made different acquisition successful Italy successful May pinch Castel D’ario, truthful we now person 5 factories crossed Europe.  

Our scheme will beryllium to proceed to put successful processing further formats and technologies but besides further capacity to support an ice-cream industry, which I deliberation is successful bully health.

SH: Does nan geographical attraction stay connected Europe?

MF: We person world aspirations and we person world customers but predominantly our attraction now successful position of further acquisitions is Europe unless nan correct point comes along. We’re very open. We spot integrated and inorganic maturation being linked and, depending connected what we acquire, we’ll specify what we look to put successful wrong nan existent perimeters.

SH: Further M&A is connected nan cards then?

MF: Very overmuch so. I retrieve moving pinch Richmond crystal pick (now R&R Ice Cream) and they did a superb occupation of consolidating important parts of nan market. There is an opportunity for a 2nd consolidator and I spot america arsenic very overmuch portion and parcel of that, chiefly because it creates a level of ratio successful nan manufacture that appeals to customers, peculiarly private-label customers.

There is an opportunity for a 2nd consolidator

SH: Is nan marketplace conducive to M&A successful crystal cream, fixed it’s been an uncertain mates of years for nan deals environment?

MF: It’s been a funny mates of years for nan deals marketplace but wherever nan ice-cream manufacture is astatine this infinitesimal – you’ve sewage 2 awesome players successful Magnum and Froneri – it’s a very fragmented industry. 

It’s been a turbulent fewer years for crystal pick arsenic good fixed input costs and various different bits and pieces. Those smaller players are surely looking for opportunities to either waste their businesses because they tin spot nan marketplace is going to go moreover tougher if you’re a comparatively mini usability aliases beryllium progressive successful a level wherever they tin realise those synergies.  

From that perspective, location are deals to beryllium done. And surely we’re very progressive successful deals correct now.

SH: Is nan ice-cream marketplace apt to proceed to consolidate?

MF: I would opportunity so, based connected each nan indicators we see. That doesn’t detract from immoderate superb emerging brands arsenic well. A batch of those brands are looking for co-manufacturing opportunities arsenic opposed to really operating and owning factories successful their ain right.  

There will still beryllium emerging brands coming done and processing nan class but I deliberation that will beryllium done successful a different measurement to wherever it’s been done historically.

Credit: Glacier

SH: The Magnum Ice Cream Company commands astir 21% of nan world ice-cream marketplace and Froneri astir 11%. Where would Glacier guidelines successful that context?

MF: When you look astatine Magnum, nan past number I saw was astir €9.8bn and for Froneri location astir €3-4bn. We will travel retired of this twelvemonth astir €600m, truthful that gives you a beautiful clear indication. 

I would opportunity from a private-label and co-manufacturing position – a axenic play, nary brands – we would beryllium 1 of nan largest, if not nan largest.

SH: How competitive is nan private-label marketplace successful ice-cream?

MF: The ice-cream market, I would say, is comparatively proviso constrained. It’s very difficult, and peculiarly for bigger retailers, to beryllium capable to exit a supplier and spell and find that merchandise from different supplier. There is not an excess of capacity successful nan market.

SH: When it comes to innovation, what is nan challenge, what sorts of things are consumers looking for?

MF: The 2 awesome trends successful crystal pick are astir snacking and premiumisation. 

During Covid, group were astatine location much and result had much occasions for take-home crystal pick than they would person done previously. A batch of nan invention went into smaller portions, handheld, etc, etc, and those trends person held patient since Covid.

The ice-cream market, I would say, is comparatively proviso constrained

Whether that’s a Magnum-style stick, that extruded creation of crystal pick has grown significantly. But, to a definite extent, erstwhile you’re consuming more, you tin extremity up pinch a definite magnitude of fatigue, truthful different flavours, different technologies astir double dip, successful position of nan outer coating pinch a bladed furniture of caramel aliases whatever. People were looking for thing different. We spot that inclination continuing successful position of premiumisation. 

On nan flip broadside of that is smaller information sizes, mini sticks, bite-size crystal cream, Sharing, arsenic opposed to nan accepted scoops from a tub. There is still a marketplace for that but group want thing different. Taste still remains very important but they are looking for different formats arsenic usage and attitudes change.

SH: What astir connected nan wellness broadside pinch group cutting backmost connected dairy, fat, sweetener and immoderate else, is that really having an impact? After all, crystal pick is still an indulgence product.

MF: ​​​​​​​The reality is, erstwhile you look astatine crystal pick arsenic a category, it is a very broad church. If you took a modular h2o crystal merchandise aliases even a very basic product, from a calorific and sweetener position it stands up to nan trial erstwhile you comparison that pinch different categories specified arsenic biscuits aliases immoderate else. 

You tin make patient choices and we’re doing much existent consequence pieces and various different bits and pieces from an invention perspective. Non-dairy crystal pick has been retired location for a agelong time, it’s still comparatively small, it’s in bully maturation but from a very low base. The use of having the supply concatenation that we person now is that we’re able to present on all of those things. 

At nan correct clip of year, location are very fewer categories you tin interchange pinch to get refreshments that are immoderate healthier than nan ice-cream class erstwhile you look astatine it from a calorific and sweetener perspective.

Credit: Glacier

SH: Stepping back, what are your biggest business challenges successful ice-cream?

MF: ​​​​​​​In caller years, inflation, and peculiarly successful position of earthy materials, energy, etc, etc, person been a challenge. Chocolate would beryllium 1 of nan biggest commodities that we bargain connected a twelvemonth in, twelvemonth retired basis. 

Shareholders don’t for illustration meteorological events arsenic an excuse generally. There’s a number of ways you tin de-risk that, obviously, by having a broader customer portfolio and we’ve done a batch of activity successful nan past 2 to 3 years to make judge we don’t person each our eggs successful 1 basket. But besides nan geographical dispersed of those is incredibly important arsenic well. 

Whilst it mightiness consciousness for illustration it ever rains successful nan UK, it didn’t past summer. It doesn’t rainfall everyplace and it’s not acold everyplace successful Europe. Clearly, nan much you diversify your customer portfolio and nan surface science that you serve, nan much insulated you are against those risks.

SH: What are Glacier’s largest markets?

MF: From a retailer position that would beryllium nan discount assemblage and pan-Europe arsenic a consequence of that. Our biggest markets would beryllium astir Benelux because of wherever we’re based but we’re reasonably represented successful each nan large markets: France, Spain, nan UK, Italy and Germany.

SH: What astir maturation rates? The Magnum Ice Cream Company is targeting 3-5% growth, for instance?

MF: My belief is we tin outpace it, surely from a measurement perspective. Private explanation is successful bully wellness and peculiarly fixed nan macro trends from consumers trading into backstage label. We’ve seen a batch of that successful nan communicative coming retired of each nan retailers post-Christmas. At nan moment, Magnum and co. do not run successful backstage explanation and I’m judge they won’t going guardant either. 

We are people acquisitive astatine this constituent and consequently, arsenic we get different businesses, we’re doing that because we request nan further capacity and nan further capacity is going to thrust sales. We person been increasing importantly up of that complaint for nan past 3 aliases 4 years and I’d expect america to proceed to do that. Co-manufacturing is besides decidedly growing.

This article primitively appeared successful the February 2026 edition of Just Food’s quarterly integer magazine.