Another Made in Italy food brand passes into foreign hands. Grom's ice cream from Turin was taken over by Unilever, the Anglo-Dutch multinational that owns – among others – the Algida brand, the king of packaged ice cream.
Founded in 2003, today Grom is worth 30 million euros and has 64 stores with around 600 employees. After the publicity also received by Matteo Renzi at Palazzo Chigi, he recently had to give up the definition of "artisan", because despite the quality the ice cream is not fresh (it is all produced in the province of Turin and then distributed all over the world) .
Unilever, a giant with a turnover of 48 billion, and Grom "share the same passion for ice cream as well as important corporate values such as the attention to the sustainable procurement of raw materials - comments Kevin Havelock, president Refreshment Category of Unilever - Grom's consumers they will continue to appreciate the same flavors and the same flavor of Grom ice cream that they have always loved. Similarly, by leveraging economies of scale, Unilever will facilitate access to new markets and help Grom create new growth opportunities”.
Meanwhile, before the deal between Grom and Unilever, the Illy group had sold the 5% stake held in Gromart to the majority shareholders Federico Grom and Guido Martinetti on 30 September. Furthermore, Riccardo Illy has resigned as a member of the board of directors of Gromart at the same time as the sale of the shares.
For his part, Grom specifies that "this collaboration represents an extraordinary opportunity to continue the virtuous path that has characterized its history: starting from agriculture and, choosing the best raw materials, enhancing quality Italian ice cream by bringing it to the most important markets in the world".
In this sense, Guido Martinetti states that the ice cream house will continue "to use the best ingredients from our Mura Mura organic farm and those made by our suppliers, and we will keep production in Turin, to continue to offer our consumers ice creams and the sorbets they love”. For Federico Grom the change of ownership of the company "is an important milestone because it allows us to realize our ambitions".
