Ice Cream history

The chocolate, marshmallow and nut flavor was created in late 1930 and was named Rocky Road as a means of describing the ice cream's texture as well as the troubled economic times of the Great Depression.

Profit margins narrowed, prices dropped, and cutthroat competition continued until 1933, when new legislation set minimum prices and conditions of sales.

By 1936, the industrial and commercial activity of the Nestlé and Anglo-Swiss Condensed Milk Company itself was quite limited in comparison with the considerable interests it had in companies manufacturing and selling its products.

In 1937 Louis Dapples died, and a new management team, whose members had grown up with the organization, took over.

Nescafé Instant Coffee Debuted in 1938

Nescafé quickly acquired a worldwide reputation, however, after it was launched in 1939 in the United States, where it did exceptionally well.

But the war was not all bad for Nestlé. When the United States became involved in 1941, Nescafé and evaporated and powdered milk were in heavy demand from American armed forces.

Nestlé's total sales jumped from $100 million before the war to $225 million in 1945, with the greatest increase occurring in North America, where sales went from $14 million to $60 million.

In 1947 Joe left the business, and William changed its name to Dreyer’s.

Edouard Muller became the first chairman of Nestlé Alimentana, but he died in 1948, before the policies he helped formulate put the company on the road to a new future.

In 1950 Nestlé acquired Crosse and Blackwell, a British manufacturer of preserves and canned foods.

Similar setbacks occurred in 1963, when Nestlé acquired Findus frozen foods in Scandinavia for $32 million.

The development of freeze-drying in 1966 led to Taster's Choice, the first freeze-dried coffee, as well as other instant drinks.

Nestlé had acquired a 30 percent stake in Vittel in 1969, a move marking the company's first foray into mineral water.

Nestlé entered the nonfood business for the first time in 1974 by becoming a major shareholder in the French company L'Oreal, a leading cosmetics company.

Dreyer retires and passes management of the company on to his son, “Junior,” though remains active in the company until his death in 1975.

In July 1977 a boycott was started in the United States against the company’s products, because of Nestlé’s advertising of its infant-formula baby food to mothers as an alternative to breast-feeding, particularly in less-developed countries.

Under the leadership of Rogers and Cronk, Dreyer's had introduced its products into the states of Washington, Oregon, and Arizona by 1979, using the company's unique direct-store distribution system.

Edy's Grand Ice Cream was introduced in Chicago and Kansas City in 1981, offering 23 different flavors to its retail customers.

In 1983, as Edy's Grand Ice Cream began to be marketed in St Louis, Milwaukee, and parts of Ohio, Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc. was named to Forbes magazine's prestigious list of "Up & Coming" companies.

In December 1985, Dreyer's made a strategic move to accommodate its growing distribution needs in the eastern United States when it acquired Berliner Foods Corp., a distributor in Maryland, for $8.4 million.

Meanwhile, in December 1986, Dreyer's acquired Midwest Distributing Co., Inc. for $5.2 million and used it to enter the Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan markets.

Grand Light was quickly accepted by the many consumers who were becoming more and more health-conscious, and by the end of 1988 sales of the product had doubled from the previous year.

In early 1990, drawing from the quick success of their distribution partnership with Ben & Jerry's Homemade, Inc., Dreyer's acquired Barkulis Bros., Inc., the Chicago-area distributor of Mars Inc.'s DoveBars, for $9 million.

In September 1991 Nestlé and The Coca-Cola Company formed a 50-50 joint-venture, Coca-Cola Nestlé Refreshment Company, to produce and distribute concentrates and bases for the production of ready-to-drink coffee and tea beverages.

Dreyer's continued its product line expansion in 1992 with the unveiling of Dreyer's and Edy's No Sugar Added, which appealed to consumers who wished to limit their sugar consumption for health or dietary reasons.

By the end of 1993, Dreyer's annual sales had increased to over $470 million, and it was poised to take the lead in the race with Breyers to become the country's leading premium brand.

By early 1994, Dreyer's products were being sold in every major grocery chain in the state of Florida, and the company had entered into an agreement with Sunbelt Distributors, Inc. of Texas to begin distribution of the Dreyer's line of products on a long-term basis.

In 1995, its partner brands accounted for 34 percent of Dreyer's total revenues.

Also in 1998 the company secured the number two position in the European pet food market, trailing only Mars, through the £715 million ($1.2 billion) purchase of the Spillers pet food business of Dalgety PLC.

Nestlé acquired PowerBar in 2000, but Brabeck-Letmathe's master stroke occurred two years later when he spent $10.3 billion to acquire Ralston-Purina.

Virginia-based Mars confectioners partners with Dreyer's to create popular “mix-ins” ice cream products (Snickers Ice Cream bar). Ended with Nestlé buy-out in 2002.

Dreyer's was acquired by Nestleé in 2003, making the combined company the world leader in ice-cream production and sales, followed by Unilever PLC, maker of the Breyers and Ben & Jerry's brands.

The company was ambitious in its goal for the campaign, which was to increase stagnant sales of its light ice creams in 2004 by at least 50 percent over the previous year.

While Dreyer's was the first to market with its new lower-fat ice creams, Unilever was close behind, introducing a "double-churned" version of its Breyers line in 2005.

Nestlé acquires 67% of the company, with rights to purchase the rest by 2006.

The company also entered the frozen-pizza market in 2010 by purchasing Kraft Foods’ frozen-pizza business in the United States and Canada for $3.7 billion.