Breyers is an

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

and frozen dessert brand with headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. Since 1993, Breyers has been owned and managed by the British conglomerate,

Unilever Unilever PLC () is a British multinational consumer packaged goods company headquartered in London, England. It was founded on 2 September 1929 following the merger of Dutch margarine producer Margarine Unie with British soap maker Lever B ...

. Founded in 1866, Breyers is the oldest manufacturer of ice cream in the United States. Breyers makes products described as ice cream or as ''frozen dairy desserts''. Its products range from traditional dairy desserts to those for specialty diet concerns, such as sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, and

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal products and the consumption of animal source foods, and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. A person who practices veganism is known as a ve ...

. Breyers is one of the ten best-selling ice cream brands globally, and was fourth among American brands in 2022 with sales of $498 million.

History

In 1866, William A. Breyer began to produce and sell ice cream in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

. The ice cream was hand-cranked and made from cream, sugar, fruit, and nuts. He first sold it to his neighbors from his home, and later via horse and wagon on the streets of Philadelphia as demand for the product grew. By 1882, Breyer had five ice cream shops and a delivery service for the product. He opened a wholesale manufacturing plant in 1896. ''Breyer's Ice Cream Company'' was incorporated in 1908. By 1918, the company produced one million

gallon The gallon is a unit of volume in British imperial units and United States customary units. The imperial gallon (imp gal) is defined as , and is or was used in the United Kingdom and its former colonies, including Ireland, Canada, Australia ...

s of ice cream annually. Breyer's Ice Cream Company was sold to the National Dairy Products Corporation/ Sealtest in 1926. In 1930, National Dairy Products purchased the company that later become known as

Kraft Kraft Foods Group, Inc. was an American food manufacturing and processing conglomerate (company), conglomerate, split from Kraft Foods Inc. on October 1, 2012, and was headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It became part of Kraft Heinz on July ...

in 1976. Kraft sold its ice cream brands to Unilever in 1993. In 1993, Unilever merged the ''Breyers'' ice cream brand with Gold Bond and Good Humor ice cream to create the

Good Humor-Breyers Good Humor-Breyers (Ice Cream USA) is the American ice cream division of Unilever and includes the formerly independent Good Humor, Breyers, Klondike bar, Klondike, Popsicle (brand), Popsicle, Dickie Dee and Sealtest brands. Based in Englewood Cl ...

division. Unilever closed its last Breyers plant in Philadelphia in 1995. The Good Humor-Breyers headquarters were moved from

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in Brown County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located at the head of Green Bay (Lake Michigan), Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the F ...

and

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town and List of municipalities in Ontario#Lower-tier municipalities, lower-tier municipality in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. Generally seen as a commuter suburb of Toronto, it is located on Lake ...

to Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey and

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

in 2007. In 2013, Unilever introduced a new category of Breyers products called ''frozen dairy desserts'' made with additional ingredients and less

butterfat Butterfat or milkfat is the fatty portion of milk. Milk and cream are often sold according to the amount of butterfat they contain. Composition Butterfat is mainly composed of triglycerides. Each triglyceride contains three fatty acids. Butt ...

, having created this category to provide smooth, low-calorie products. The main manufacturing change in the new products from Breyers "all-natural" ice cream was a lower fat content, following federal regulations that require ice cream with less than 10% butterfat and milk solids to be labeled as "frozen dairy dessert". However, the new desserts evoked complaints by some consumers who were accustomed to the traditional "all-natural" Breyers ice cream.

Market

Part of the $8.6 billion Unilever ice cream group, Breyers is among the world's top-10 most valued ice cream brands. With $498 million in sales in 2022, Breyers was fourth among American brands. In 2024, Unilever announced it would sell Breyers and its other ice cream brands by the end of 2025.

Products

Breyers manufactures its frozen desserts to be either "original ice cream" or "frozen dairy dessert". Some 60% of Breyers products are ice cream and 40% are frozen dairy desserts. Breyers manufactures products for consumers with specialty diets, such as sugar-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan, non-GMO, lactose-free, and "CarbSmart" for people preferring low-

carbohydrate A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' ...

desserts. Breyers groups its products in three flavor categories that include ''Classics'' (made with milk, cream, and natural colors and flavors), ''Better For You'' desserts (manufactured to be low in calories with lower carbohydrate content and no sugar added for flavor), and ''Cookies & Candies'' (which contain pieces of cookies or branded candies).

Ice cream

Founded in 1866, Breyers is the oldest manufacturer of ice cream in the United States. Breyers ice cream products are made from milk, cream, sugar, tara gum, and flavors derived from natural sources, such as

vanilla Vanilla is a spice derived from orchids of the genus ''Vanilla (genus), Vanilla'', primarily obtained from pods of the flat-leaved vanilla (''Vanilla planifolia, V. planifolia''). ''Vanilla'' is not Autogamy, autogamous, so pollination ...

Frozen dairy dessert

Breyers ''frozen dairy desserts'' are manufactured with

skim milk Skimmed milk (British English), or skim milk (American English), is made when all the milkfat is removed from whole milk. It tends to contain around 0.1% to 0.3% fat. Background Historically, skimmed milk was used for fattening pigs, and was re ...

corn syrup Corn syrup is a food syrup that is made from the starch of corn/maize and contains varying amounts of sugars: glucose, maltose and higher oligosaccharides, depending on the grade. Corn syrup is used in foods to soften Mouthfeel, texture, add vol ...

(or maltitol syrup), sugar or a

sugar substitute A sugar substitute or artificial sweetener, is a food additive that provides a sweetness like that of sugar while containing significantly less food energy than sugar-based sweeteners, making it a zero-calorie () or low-calorie sweetener. Arti ...

, polydextrose,

glycerin Glycerol () is a simple triol compound. It is a colorless, odorless, sweet-tasting, viscous liquid. The glycerol backbone is found in lipids known as glycerides. It is also widely used as a sweetener in the food industry and as a humectant in pha ...

, and various other ingredients that may include

whey Whey is the liquid remaining after milk has been curdled and strained. It is a byproduct of the manufacturing of cheese or casein and has several commercial uses. Sweet whey is a byproduct resulting from the manufacture of rennet types of hard c ...

, carob bean gum,

guar gum Guar gum, also called guaran, is a galactomannan polysaccharide extracted from guar beans that has thickening and stabilizing properties useful in food, feed, and industrial applications. The guar seeds are mechanically dehusked, hydrated, mi ...

carrageenan Carrageenans or carrageenins ( ; ) are a family of natural linear sulfation, sulfated polysaccharides. They are extracted from red algae, red edible seaweeds. Carrageenans are widely used in the food industry, for their gelling, thickening, an ...

, and added

micronutrient Micronutrients are essential chemicals required by organisms in small quantities to perform various biogeochemical processes and regulate physiological functions of cells and organs. By enabling these processes, micronutrients support the heal ...

Confusion with Dreyer's

In the

Western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Western States, the Far West, the Western territories, and the West) is List of regions of the United States, census regions United States Census Bureau. As American settlement i ...

, Breyers ice cream may be confused with Dreyer's ice cream, the company cofounded by William Dreyer and Joseph Edy as ''Edy's Grand Ice Cream'' in 1928 in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

. The root of the confusion dates to 1948 when the Edy's Grand Ice Cream name was changed to "Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream". Seeking to eliminate the confusion, Dreyer's changed its brand name in the home market of Breyers from "Dreyer's Grand" back to "Edy's Grand" in 1977, while retaining the Dreyer's brand west of the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

. Around that same time, Breyers had expanded its market into the western United States — the home market of Dreyer's — and by the mid-1980s, was distributing ice cream throughout the region.

References

External links

* {{Unilever Food and drink introduced in 1866 Products introduced in 1866 1926 mergers and acquisitions 1993 mergers and acquisitions Unilever brands Ice cream brands History of Philadelphia Cuisine of Philadelphia