Diplom-Is AS is a Norwegian manufacturer of

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 ...

owned by the dairy group Tine. In 2005, the company produced of ice cream, and held a

market share Market share is the percentage of the total revenue or sales in a Market (economics), market that a company's business makes up. For example, if there are 50,000 units sold per year in a given industry, a company whose sales were 5,000 of those ...

of 53% domestically. Among the most notable own brands are Royal, Dream, Krone-Is, Pin-Up, Lollipop, Sandwich, Pia, Gullpinne, Gigant and Klin Kokos. It also produces the franchise Mövenpick,

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and

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

in Scandinavia.

History

The first ice cream factories in Norway were established in the 1920s, and towards the end of the decade the Norwegian Dairies established their own brand, Diplom Is in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

, with its first advertisement appearing in 1930. By 1931 the production went on continually through the year, and Oslo got its own

ice cream truck An ice cream van (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or ice cream truck (North American English) is a commercial vehicle that ice cream products are sold from, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans ...

. Production was low during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, and after the war there were numerous independent ice cream manufacturers. Many of these were owned by the regional dairy cooperatives. In 1951 these were all

brand A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's goods or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create and ...

ed as Diplom-Is and the brand became national. Though having a common brand, it was not until 1991 that all the production of ice cream by the dairies was collected in one company, Norsk Iskrem BA (lit. ''Norwegian Ice Cream''). The following four years saw the "ice cream war" between Diplom-Is and the

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

GB Is, but by 1995 GB had to withdraw from the market. At the same time Diplom-Is started to franchise produce the

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

brand Mövenpick. In 1992, the company established itself in

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, and in 2004 in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

. In 2002 the legal name changed to Diplom-Is AS. On 30 September 2010

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 ...

signed an asset purchase agreement with the Norwegian dairy group TINE, to acquire the activities of Diplom-Is in Denmark.

References

{{Authority control Dairy products companies of Norway Ice cream brands Agricultural cooperatives in Norway 1930 establishments in Norway Food and drink companies established in 1930 Manufacturing companies based in Oslo