5 Ice Cream Brands That Are All Unilever

You are looking at five different companies. That is what it feels like. But when we traced the ownership of the ice cream brands filling most supermarket freezers, the answer was the same every time.

Unilever plc owns Ben and Jerry's, Magnum, Cornetto, Wall's, and Breyers. Five brands. One parent. The company built an ice cream portfolio generating approximately $8 billion in annual sales across more than 30 brand names globally — and most people have never noticed the small heart logo connecting them all.

That is about to change structurally. In March 2024, Unilever announced plans to spin off the entire ice cream division as a standalone publicly traded company, targeting completion by the end of 2025. It is the largest demerger in Unilever's history. If you want to understand what you are actually buying when you reach for any of these brands — and who will own them going forward — this breakdown covers exactly that.

Unilever entered the ice cream business through its acquisition of Wall's in the UK in 1922, when the company (then Lever Brothers) acquired the T. Wall and Sons meat and ice cream business. It then spent the next eight decades acquiring local market leaders and running them under their original names. According to Unilever's 2024 Annual Report, ice cream was the company's slowest-growing division, which ultimately drove the spinoff decision.

1. Ben and Jerry's

Ben and Jerry's is the most globally recognized brand in the portfolio. Founded in 1978 in Burlington, Vermont, by Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, the company built its reputation on high-butterfat recipes, offbeat flavor names, and explicit political activism — a combination that made it a cultural icon long before any acquisition.

Unilever paid approximately $326 million for it in August 2000. The founders resisted publicly. They lost.

The deal included an unusual carve-out: Ben and Jerry's retained an independent board of directors with authority over the brand's social mission. That structure created friction almost immediately. In 2021, the independent board voted to end sales in Israeli-occupied territories. Unilever opposed the decision, sold the Israeli operations to a local licensee anyway, and Ben and Jerry's sued in federal court. The suit settled in 2022 with Unilever retaining certain override powers on international decisions — a result that satisfied neither side completely.

As the spinoff proceeded in 2025, the founders pushed for stronger social mission protections within the new standalone entity. According to reporting by The Guardian, the governance structure remained unresolved through much of the separation process. The Ben and Jerry's acquisition is the clearest example of what happens when a brand's identity is built on values that conflict with conglomerate portfolio logic.

2. Magnum

Magnum is the one brand on this list that Unilever did not acquire. It was built internally. Langnese, Unilever's German ice cream subsidiary, created the Magnum Classic in 1989 as an adult-positioned chocolate bar on a stick — a deliberate contrast to the children's ice cream market that dominated the category at the time.

The bet paid off at scale. Magnum is now sold in more than 40 countries and generates an estimated $2 billion or more in annual sales, making it one of the highest-revenue single ice cream products in the world. The brand has expanded through the Magnum Double, Magnum Ruby (using ruby chocolate), and Magnum Gold lines, as well as Magnum Pleasure Stores — customization pop-ups in major cities that function as marketing activations as much as retail outlets. Organic development from scratch to $2B. That trajectory is rare in consumer goods.

3. Cornetto

Cornetto was created in 1959 by Spica, an Italian manufacturer based in Naples. The product — a wafer cone filled with ice cream and coated in chocolate — was acquired by Unilever's Algida subsidiary and turned into a global distribution play.

In the UK and Europe, Cornetto became so culturally embedded through decades of summer-romance advertising that British director Edgar Wright named his film trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World's End) after it. That is not a sponsorship. Wright has stated publicly that the name was simply a tribute to the ice cream's presence in his childhood.

The brand varies by market. In the United States, the equivalent product was sold as Drumstick under the Breyers label — also Unilever. In Southeast Asia, Cornetto is a top-selling brand in its own right. One product, multiple names, one parent company.

4. Wall's

Wall's is where this story starts. Lever Brothers acquired T. Wall and Sons in 1922, making Wall's the oldest brand in what became Unilever's ice cream empire. The brand has been part of the portfolio for over a century.

Today Wall's is the umbrella brand for Unilever's ice cream range in the UK, Ireland, and several Southeast Asian markets — covering lollies, bars, tubs, and multipacks under a single name. In Southeast Asia, it is actually Unilever's primary premium ice cream offering, which is a different positioning from its mid-market heritage role in the UK. Same brand, different market tier. That is a deliberate strategic decision, not inconsistency.

5. Breyers

Breyers is the oldest brand in the US portion of this portfolio. William Breyer started selling ice cream from a horse-drawn wagon in Philadelphia in 1866. The brand passed through Kraft Foods before landing at Unilever in 2000 as part of the Kraftco Dairy Division acquisition.

Breyers is positioned as the value-end, natural-ingredient option in Unilever's US ice cream lineup. It has faced consumer pushback in recent years over reformulation — some products were changed to reduce dairy content, which prompted the FDA to require labeling them as "frozen dairy dessert" rather than ice cream. That distinction matters to consumers who pay attention.

Within the US market, Breyers and Ben and Jerry's form Unilever's mass-market and premium bracket respectively. The consumer choosing between them at the freezer case is choosing between two products owned by the same company.

The Spinoff: What Happens Next

In March 2024, Unilever formally announced the separation. The new ice cream company is expected to include all Unilever ice cream brands globally: Ben and Jerry's, Magnum, Cornetto, Wall's, Breyers, Carte D'Or, Klondike, Solero, and others — making it one of the largest pure-play ice cream companies ever created.

Unilever indicated plans to list the new entity on the Amsterdam, London, and New York stock exchanges. The rationale is simple: ice cream was the slowest-growing segment in the portfolio. Unilever wants to focus capital on beauty, personal care, and nutrition — categories with better margin profiles and growth rates. The ice cream business gets to operate independently and attract investors who specifically want consumer staples with a frozen food focus.

The target completion date has shifted several times. The timeline is worth watching, particularly for how the Ben and Jerry's governance dispute gets resolved in the new structure.

The Broader Ice Cream Market

Unilever is not alone in this concentration. Nestle owns Haagen-Dazs (outside the US), Dreyer's, and Edy's. Mars owns Dove Ice Cream and Snickers Ice Cream bars. Between Unilever, Nestle, and Mars, three companies control the majority of branded ice cream sold in developed markets. When we map the category on WhoBrands, independent ice cream brands are a small minority of what fills those freezers.

Haagen-Dazs is Magnum's primary premium competitor in most global markets. In the US, Haagen-Dazs is distributed by General Mills under a licensing arrangement from Nestle — another layer of complexity that most consumers never see.

For a complete look at who owns the global ice cream market, read our who owns the ice cream industry analysis. To understand how Unilever was formed and how it built such a diverse consumer goods empire, read how Unilever was formed: the Anglo-Dutch merger.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Unilever selling Ben and Jerry's? Unilever is planning to spin off its entire ice cream division, which includes Ben and Jerry's, as a separate publicly traded company. The spinoff is expected to complete by the end of 2025. Ben and Jerry's would become part of the new standalone ice cream company rather than being sold individually.

Does Unilever own Haagen-Dazs? No. Haagen-Dazs is owned by Nestle in the United States (through a licensing arrangement with General Mills, which holds certain rights) and by General Mills internationally. Haagen-Dazs is Magnum's primary premium competitor in many markets.

When did Unilever buy Ben and Jerry's? Unilever acquired Ben and Jerry's in August 2000 for approximately $326 million. The deal included unusual provisions for the brand to maintain an independent board of directors with oversight of its social mission.

Why does Magnum have a heart logo? The small heart logo on Magnum and other Unilever ice cream packaging is Unilever's ice cream division logo, used across its brand portfolio globally to indicate shared ownership. Most consumers do not recognize the logo as a corporate identifier.

Is Breyers still a Unilever brand? Yes, as of 2026. Breyers is part of the Unilever ice cream portfolio being separated into the planned ice cream spinoff.

Explore Related Brands

• Ben and Jerry's — Premium ice cream, owned by Unilever since August 2000 for $326 million
• Magnum — Premium ice cream bar developed internally by Unilever, est. $2B+ in annual sales
• Cornetto — Italian-origin ice cream cone brand, owned by Unilever via Algida since 1959
• Wall's — UK's oldest ice cream brand, in Unilever's portfolio since 1922
• Breyers — US heritage ice cream brand, founded 1866, Unilever-owned since 2000
• Dove Ice Cream — Mars-owned premium ice cream bar competing directly with Magnum
• Häagen-Dazs — Nestle-licensed premium ice cream, Magnum's primary global rival

Browse all food and beverage brands

Also read: 8 Pet Food Brands All Under One Roof — the same consolidated ownership pattern in a different consumer category.

Sources

• Unilever Investor Relations, Ice Cream Separation Update 2025 -- https://www.unilever.com/investors/
• Reuters: "Unilever to spin off ice cream division" -- https://www.reuters.com/
• Associated Press: "Ben and Jerry's sues Unilever over Israeli ice cream deal" -- https://apnews.com/
• Wikidata: Ben and Jerry's -- https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q622854
• Financial Times: "Unilever ice cream spinoff timeline" -- https://www.ft.com/

All brand ownership data verified through WhoBrands.com's proprietary research methodology. Last updated: April 2026.