Peters Ice Cream
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food manufacturing |
| Founded | 1907 |
| Founder | Frederick Augustus Bolles Peters |
| Headquarters | Australia , Australia |
Area served | Australia |
| Products | Frozen desserts (ice cream) |
| Owner | Froneri |
| Parent | Froneri |
Peters Ice Cream is an Australian frozen dessert brand currently owned by the European food conglomerate Froneri. The company was established in 1907 by American expatriate Frederick Augustus Bolles Peters, who based the product on a recipe from his mother.
History
The company began operations in 1907 in Paddington, New South Wales under the name Peters' American Delicacy Company and experienced swift growth. By 1923, a new manufacturing facility was opened in Redfern, New South Wales. In 1927, Peters introduced a subsidiary called Peters' Arctic Delicacy Co. Ltd located in Brisbane, which also operated outlets in Newcastle, New South Wales. Expansion continued in 1929 with affiliated firms established in Victoria (Australia), Western Australia, and Townsville, Queensland, along with a new factory in Rockhampton.
Peters was among the first to implement small refrigerated display units for retailers across Australia. The brand utilized unique color schemes for different regions: red and cream for New South Wales and Queensland, and green and cream for Victoria and Western Australia.
By the 1960s, production of Peters ice cream was centralized under Melbourne-based Petersville Australia Limited, except for the Western Australian branch which maintained its own manufacturing plant.
During the late 1980s, Peters operations outside Western Australia were acquired by the Adelaide Steamship Company (AdSteam). Following AdSteam's collapse, these assets transferred to Pacific Dunlop (currently known as Ansell). In the mid-1990s, Pacific Dunlop divested its ice cream division to Nestlé.
The Western Australian segment of Peters, owned by Peters and Brownes Foods, was purchased by Fonterra in 2006. Fonterra subsequently sold Peters and Brownes Foods to Nestlé in 2009, thereby unifying Nestlé’s ownership of the Peters brand across Australia.
In 2012, Pacific Equity Partners acquired the consolidated Peters business from Nestlé; however, Nestlé retained licensing rights for specific sub-brands such as Drumstick. Later, in May 2014, Pacific Equity Partners sold Peters to European firm R&R Ice Cream.
On 19 April 2018, R&R Ice Cream merged with Nestlé’s ice cream operations to create Froneri, which currently serves as the corporate parent company of Peters.
See also
- Michelides Tobacco Factory, a former site of a Peters Ice Cream factory located in Perth, Western Australia
- Zig and Zag (Australian performers), a clown duo who served as promotional figures for Peters Ice Cream
References
- Australian Dictionary of Biography, G.P.Walsh - Volume 11 (MUP), 1988