GB Glace (originally Glace-Bolaget until 1991) is the largest ice cream company in Sweden. It was founded in 1942 and after they had become a partner in 1973, was eventually fully purchased by the British company Unilever in 1996.

History

Early history

Ice cream has been produced in Sweden since the late 1920s. Stockholm’s first ice cream manufacturer was called Choklad-Thule. In Uppsala, the company Fyris started ice cream production in the early 1930s but declared bankruptcy in 1933. Until 1934, Pressbyrån collaborated with Choklad-Thule on the delivery of ice cream. In the same year, the company terminated the agreement and began its production with Fyri’s old machines. This became the basis for Alaska Glace in Stockholm.

The company Mjölkcentralen (MC) started ice cream production in 1934, after Eric Wilhelm Hanner, son of one of the managers at Mjölkcentralen, came back from studying the production of ice cream in various countries, among them Denmark, Switzerland and the USA. He convinced the management that the production was a good way for Mjölkcentralen to utilize the surplus of milk fat that had been thrown away until then.

Glace-Bolaget

At the end of 1941, there were a total of four ice cream manufacturers in Stockholm. In 1942, Mjölkcentralen’s ice cream department and Choklad-Thule merged to buy Alaska Glace. The new company was named Glace-Bolaget (GB). Eric W. Hanner was elected the company’s first CEO, a position he held until his retirement in 1972.

During World War II, most ingredients for the production of ice cream were rationed and GB was forced to drastically reduce fat content and find replacements.

1955 was the year when ice cream broke through as a mass-market product in Sweden. GB increased production but was forced to import ice cream from Denmark to satisfy the increased demand. Two years later, in 1957, Scandinavia’s largest ice cream factory was inaugurated in Flen.

In 2005, the Swedish company was criticized by the Centre against Racism and Related Intolerance after launching an advertising campaign introducing their new line of ice cream bars, the Nogger Black, which is an addition to their existing "Nogger" ice cream product. The Nogger has been marketed since 1979, its name derived from the nougat filling. The criticism was mainly aimed at an advert where the slogan "Nogger + liquorice = ♥" was written in white chalk on asphalt. Stig Wallin, chairman of the centre, misread the slogan as "Nigger + liquorice" and said: "It's impossible not to see this as an allusion to racism". The centre urged for a boycott of the company if it did not withdraw the campaign.

In 2011, the Finnish competitor Ingman Ice Cream was bought by Unilever. In 2013, the operations were integrated, and GB Glace ceased to exist as a brand in Finland.

Corporate affairs

Products and services

Besides its traditional brands, it now produces many of the same products as other Unilever Heartbrand subsidiaries, such as Langnese in Germany.

References

  • GB Glace official website