Why the world's largest ice cream company is betting on home delivery
Unilever conquered the ice cream market. Home delivery is the final frontier
Thomas Wall had a problem. It was the summer of 1913 and business was flagging at T. Wall & Sons, his family butcher shop in London.
Overheated shoppers just weren't buying the company's specialty sausages. Then, Wall had an epiphany: Selling ice cream could help counteract the seasonal sales slump.
The idea was set aside when World War I started a year later. But the arrival of a commercial freezer from the United States in 1922 catalyzed his ambitions. From a factory in west London, Wall's ice cream was soon being hawked to Londoners via horse and cart, and then by salespeople on tricycles. By 1939, there were 8,500 of the company's tricycles on Britain's roads.
“As an ice cream gang, we’re a bit messianic. We believe people want it, we’ve just got to find a way to get it to them.””
Wall's ice cream salesmen in Britain in 1922 (left) and 1938 (right).
Meanwhile, a consumer goods juggernaut was being created. Wall's was bought by Lever Brothers, then selling Sunlight soap, which merged with Dutch company Margarine Unie in 1930 to create Unilever (UL).
The Anglo-Dutch firm has gone on to acquire some two dozen other major ice cream brands, including Klondike and Ben & Jerry's, while pioneering its own Magnum line. It sells ice cream in 63 countries around the world and commands almost a fifth of global ice cream sales, a bigger share than its next four competitors combined, according to market research firm Euromonitor.
Unilever is now the undisputed king of ice cream. But as the coronavirus pandemic rages on, and lockdowns persist, the company is taking inspiration from the delivery tricycles of its early years to conquer one final frontier: ice cream delivered to your home, on demand.
Ice cream around every corner
It won't have far to travel. Chances are, while reading this article you're no more than a few hundred yards away from a Unilever ice cream.
The company owns five of the world's 10 most valuable ice cream brands, including Breyers, Cornetto, Carte d'Or and Ben & Jerry's. But its empire extends far beyond these familiar names.
There's Frigo in Spain, Adityaa in India, Holanda in Mexico, Langnese in Germany, Selecta in the Philippines, Ola in South Africa and Pingüino in Ecuador. In recent years, Unilever has also built out its premium offering to fend off a growing number of innovative rivals, snapping up gelato and sorbet brands such as America's Talenti, Italy's Grom and Australia's Weis.
Full Story >
It’s ice cream o’clock somewhere. Get ice cream now.
— The Ice Cream Shop (@IceCreamShopUS) April 2, 2020
Order the brands you love, right to your door, through your favorite delivery app. Just look for The Ice Cream Shop on DoorDash, Grubhub, Postmates, and UberEats. #GetIceCreamNow #TheIceCreamShop pic.twitter.com/LcIn0xFrZx
