Ice cream: Froneri to invest 100 million in Italia over three years
The industry giant, with a consolidated turnover of 5.5 billion across 25 countries – including 380 in Italia – has announced plans to upgrade its facilities and develop new products
Ten years in Italia, two hundred million already invested and another hundred to follow by 2028. Froneri – a joint venture established in 2016 through a partnership between Nestlé and R&R, now the world’s second-largest ice-cream manufacturer with consolidated turnover of 5.5 billion across 25 countries – has announced a new development plan aimed at consolidating Italia’s role as the group’s production hub.
Italian turnover in 2025 exceeded 380 million euros, representing a 43.4% increase compared with 2017. This growth trajectory is attributed by the chief executive Quirino Cipollone to three key factors: product innovation, brand enhancement and the expansion of production capacity at the two plants in Ferentino and Terni.
“We have decided to step up our efforts even further, with a new investment plan for the next three years, aimed at strengthening our industrial capacity and supporting growth in the ice cream sector,” said Cipollone. The planned 100 million will be allocated to two areas: on the one hand, the technological upgrading of the plants – the group operates 30 factories worldwide with over 390 production lines and around 12,000 employees – and on the other, research, development and brand support.
Snacking is reshaping consumer habits
The rationale behind these investments lies in a structural shift in purchasing behaviour. The reduction in household size and the gradual breakdown of traditional mealtimes have eroded the consumption of ice cream as a traditional dessert, shifting demand towards individual portions, which are purchased more frequently and with a higher willingness to spend per unit. This is the phenomenon of snacking: between 2016 and 2025, the value of Froneri’s sales in the multipack sector (which is now generally slowing down according to NielsenIQ data) has doubled, and by 2025 its brands had reached more than 8 million Italian households, representing a 43 per cent increase compared to 2016. It is not just a question of volume: consumers’ willingness to pay more for perceived quality, premium ingredients or a connection with a recognisable brand has redefined market hierarchies, opening the way for premium positioning that would previously have struggled to hold its own on the shelves.
The brands that have driven growth
The brand that best embodies this trend is Maxibon: having grown by an average of +16.5% per annum over the three-year period 2022–2025, it has over 4.5 million households as customers, and its Classic variant ranks first in terms of unit sales across the entire retail sector. The range has expanded upmarket with the premium snacking line The Special, which has attracted new consumers without cannibalising the core product. Nuii – launched in 2019 with a positioning built around exotic ingredients and the quality of the raw materials – has become the second-ranked brand in the premium ice lolly segment within six years, with 3.5 million households purchasing the product and a stable presence in the top ten by turnover. After seventy years, Coppa del Nonno remains the fifth-best-selling product in the retail sector: a result that highlights just how coffee-flavoured ice cream retains a consumer base that is difficult to erode.
