Grupo Kalise facts for kids
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| subsidiary | |
| Industry | Dairy |
| Founded | 1960 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Ice creams, Frozen desserts, yogurts |
| Parent | Grupo Farga |
Kalise is a Spanish company that makes delicious ice cream and other frozen treats. It started in 1960 in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, which is in the beautiful Canary Islands.
For a while, Kalise was part of a bigger group called "Grupo Kalise–La Menorquina S.A.". This happened after it joined forces with another Spanish ice cream company, La Menorquina. During this time, Kalise sold its products directly to people in shops, while La Menorquina focused on selling to restaurants.
In 2017, the two companies decided to go their separate ways again. A company called Grupo Farga bought the group for 40 million euros. Since then, Kalise has continued to be its own company, making its popular ice creams and yogurts.
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The Story of Kalise
After World War II, a businessman named Fernando Pons Sintes started a company called "La Estrella" in 1950 on the island of Menorca. His dream was to bring ice cream and cakes to restaurants on the island. Five years later, in 1955, the company changed its name to "La Menorquina".
By the mid-1950s, La Menorquina started working with other companies in Barcelona. In 1956, Sintes bought a chocolate company called La Tropical de Mahón. He had actually worked there as a baking helper when he was younger!
Ice Cream Becomes Popular
In 1960, ice cream was still seen as a special treat. But as more tourists visited and more restaurants opened, people had better access to refrigerators. This helped La Menorquina sell more ice cream across the islands. By the mid-1960s, many new companies wanted to sell ice cream too, because tourism was growing fast. This meant La Menorquina had to grow and change.
The company bought another ice cream maker called Helados Marisa. Later, Helados Marisa joined with a big company from the United States called Beatrice Foods. In 1965, Beatrice Foods bought most of the company.
Beatrice Foods also bought parts of a company called Marisa (which stood for Modernas Aplicaciones de la Refrigeracion Industrial). This company owned factories that made refrigerators in Barcelona and Mallorca. This was great news for La Menorquina, as it meant they could start selling their products in Mallorca and reach many more people! La Menorquina sold three different brands in Mallorca: La Menorquina, Matisa, and Calatayud. In 1983, Marisa officially joined with La Menorquina. This gave La Menorquina full control of the factories in Barcelona, Menorca, and Mallorca, helping them grow even more.
How Kalise Began
Around the same time, in the early 1960s, in the city of Las Palmas on Gran Canaria, another businessman named Delfín Suárez saw the growing tourism. He decided his family's company, Interglas, should start making and selling their own ice cream. This new ice cream brand was called Kalise.
Joining Forces and Separating
In 1990, Fernando Pons Sintes, who started La Menorquina, retired. Delfín Suárez, who owned Interglas (Kalise), then bought all the shares of La Menorquina. Even though they were owned by the same person, La Menorquina and Kalise stayed as separate companies for a while. La Menorquina even started selling its products in 27 other countries!
Later, in 1999, Beatrice Foods left the company. This allowed Interglas and La Menorquina to fully combine and become the Kalise Menorquina Group. At this point, it became the first big ice cream maker in Spain that was completely owned by people from the Canary Islands.
In 2005, the Kalise Menorquina Group bought most of SIALSA, a company that made and sold a yogurt brand called "Sandra" locally.
Then, in 2017, the Kalise Menorquina Group was bought by Grupo Farga for 40 million euros. After this, Kalise kept its main production base in the Canary Islands, making its ice creams and yogurts. La Menorquina, on the other hand, started selling its products along with the brand "Farggi". In this year, the big Grupo La Menorquina officially separated, and Grupo Kalise S.A. was formed as its own company.
See also
In Spanish: Grupo Kalise para niños
