Dreyer's facts for kids
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Dreyer's headquarters in Oakland
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Dairy |
| Founded | 1928 |
| Founder |
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| Headquarters | Walnut Creek, California, California, United States |
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Key people
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Kim Peddle-Rguem, CEO |
| Products | Ice cream |
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Number of employees
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2,400+ (2020) |
| Parent | Froneri |
Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream, Inc. is an American company that makes delicious ice cream. It started in 1928 in Oakland, California. The company has two main ice cream brands: Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream and Edy's Grand Ice Cream.
These brands are named after the people who started the company, William Dreyer and Joseph Edy. You can find Dreyer's ice cream in the Western United States and Texas. Edy's ice cream is sold in the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
In 2002, a big company called Nestlé bought Dreyer's. Later, in 2020, Froneri took over all of Nestlé's ice cream businesses in the U.S. This included Dreyer's, Häagen-Dazs, and Drumstick.
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The Story of Dreyer's Ice Cream
The names Edy's and Dreyer's honor the company's founders. Joseph Edy was a talented candy maker. William Dreyer was an expert at making ice cream.
Joseph Edy grew up in Montana. In the 1910s, he ran a candy and ice cream shop there. In the 1920s, he moved to California. In 1925, Joseph Edy opened Edy's Character Candies Shop in Oakland. His candies were very popular. Soon, he had six shops!
William Dreyer also had an ice cream business. He made ice cream in Visalia. In 1926, he moved to Oakland to work for National Ice Cream. That's where he met Joe Edy.
How Dreyer's and Edy's Started
In 1928, Edy and Dreyer decided to work together. They opened a small factory and started Edy's Grand Ice Cream. The "Grand" part came from their street address on Grand Avenue in Oakland.
They wanted to create new and exciting ice cream flavors. Joseph Edy used his candy-making skills to invent the first Rocky Road ice cream. He combined chocolate, marshmallows, and nuts.
The flavor was named Rocky Road to describe its bumpy texture. It also hinted at the difficult economic times of the Great Depression. This was a period when many people faced financial challenges.
Edy and Dreyer also created Toasted Almond and Candy Mint flavors. Back then, most ice cream was just vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry. Rocky Road, introduced in 1929, was one of the first ice creams with many flavors mixed together. Since only large marshmallows were available, Edy used his wife's sewing scissors to cut them into small pieces for the first batch of Rocky Road.
Changes Over the Years
In 1947, Edy and Dreyer ended their partnership. In 1953, William Dreyer Jr. took over the company. He changed the name to Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream.
In 1963, Dreyer Jr. sold the company to his main officers. These were Al Wolff, Bob Boone, and Ken Cook. Ken Cook was president from 1963 to 1977. He wanted to offer families high-quality ice cream to enjoy at home.
In 1977, T. Gary Rogers and W. F. "Rick" Cronk bought the company for $1 million. By then, Dreyer's had sales of $6 million and 75 employees.
In 1981, the company grew bigger. They started using the name Edy's Grand Ice Cream again. This was for products sold east of the Rocky Mountains. They did this so people wouldn't confuse their ice cream with another company called Breyers. So, they use the Dreyer's name in the Western United States and Texas. They use the Edy's name in the Eastern and Midwestern United States.
In 2002, Nestlé bought Dreyer's for $3.2 billion. In December 2019, Nestlé announced it would sell its U.S. ice cream businesses. This included Dreyer's, Häagen-Dazs, and Drumstick. Froneri, a global ice cream maker, bought them for $4 billion in 2020.
Important Dates in Dreyer's History
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- 1906: William Dreyer made his first frozen dessert. He did this to celebrate his ship arriving in America from Germany.
- 1919: Edy's ice cream was sold, according to a newspaper in Montana.
- 1928: William Dreyer and Joseph Edy started Edy's Grand Ice Cream.
- 1947: Dreyer and Edy ended their business partnership. Dreyer bought and built a new factory in Oakland. Edy continued his business, running several ice cream shops in the San Francisco Bay Area.
- 1963: Ken Cook became President of the company.
- 1977: T. Gary Rogers and W.F. Cronk bought Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream for $1 million.
- 1981: Dreyer's shares were traded on NASDAQ. The company also started using the Edy's Grand Ice Cream name again for products sold east of the Rocky Mountains. This was to avoid confusion with Breyers.
- 2004: Dreyer's began using a new churning process. It's called low-temperature extrusion. This method makes ice cream smoother. It also allows for "slow churned" ice cream. This type has fewer calories and less fat than regular ice cream.
- 2006: The Dreyer's ice cream plant in Laurel, Maryland, got bigger. This made Dreyer's have the two largest ice cream plants in the United States.
- 2007: Nestlé completed its deal to buy Dreyer's for $3.2 billion. This made Nestlé the biggest ice cream maker in the world. Dreyer's also bought other ice cream brands, like Snelgrove's Ice Cream in Utah.
- 2016: Nestlé and PAI Partners created a joint company called Froneri. They combined their ice cream and frozen food businesses in Europe and other countries.
- 2020: Nestlé sold all its U.S. ice cream businesses to Froneri for $4 billion. This included Dreyer's, Häagen-Dazs, and Drumstick.
Changes to Ice Cream Container Sizes
In 2002, Nestlé decided to use smaller containers. This was to help increase profits. The standard half gallon (1.89 L) container was changed to 1.75 quarts (1.65 L).
In May 2008, the 1.75 quart container became even smaller. It was reduced to 1.5 quarts (1.42 L). Most other ice cream companies, except for Blue Bell, also made their containers smaller.
