Ice cream maker Froneri sees annual sales jump after hot summer

Ice cream giant Froneri saw sales jump last year as it was buoyed by hot summer weather.

The Fab and Kelly’s ice cream manufacturer also saw operating profit rise 62% to 242.4 million euros (£217 million) on the back of investment in new products.

The UK-headquartered business was formed in 2016 after R&R ice cream was purchased by private equity group PAI Partners, to form the joint venture with Nestle.

Froneri has licences for Nestle and Cadbury-owner Mondelez’s ice cream brands.

Sales for the year to December 31 jumped by 3.6% to 2.6 billion euros (£2.3 billion), up from 2.5 billion euros the previous year.

Froneri said it was boosted by hot summer weather across Europe, particularly in June, pushing up consumer demand for ice cream and lollies.

Its global brands division saw revenue increase by 17.9%, driven by successful marketing campaigns and promotional investment.

It was boosted by new products with the roll-out of its Extreme brand to the UK, and the launch of chocolate-coated ice cream brand Nuii this year.

Earlier this year, Froneri also bought New Zealand brand Tip Top from dairy business Fronterra in a 250 million US dollar (£197 million) deal.

Froneri said it has also set up a Brexit committee which has met regularly over the past 18 months to draw up plans to mitigate the impact of leaving the EU, despite “the inherent uncertainties created by the inability of the UK Government to agree a withdrawal deal”.

Froneri chief executive Ibrahim Najafi said: “Since our creation in 2016 we’ve worked hard to bring the Froneri family together into one winning team dedicated to producing consistently high-quality ice cream in all our markets.

“In the last year we have been strengthening the fundamentals we have in place and we’ve been winning market share.

“We have a very bright future ahead and continue at pace on our journey to become the world’s best ice cream company.”