The Massive Dairy Company That Supplies Aldi's Ice Cream Is Also Behind These Other Beloved Brands

Aldi is well known for its wide range of inexpensive groceries. The company mainly does this through its private label products made by third-party vendors. Although the producers of these products, such as the producer of its Sundae Shoppe ice cream, aren't publicly disclosed, you can figure it out with a little sleuthing: A voluntary ice cream recall in 2017 and 2018 by the Fieldbrook Foods Corporation revealed that it was behind Aldi's Sundae Shoppe brand. But, like Russian nesting dolls, when you begin digging deeper, you find there are not one, but two other companies behind Fieldbrook.

The first is Wells Enterprises, which acquired Fieldbrook Foods in 2019. It not only produces some private label ice cream products, including Walmart's Great Value ice cream line, but also such well-known brands as Halo Top, Bomb Pop, Blue Bunny, and Blue Ribbon Classics. Then, in 2022, the Ferrero Group, the Italian company best known for Ferrero Rocher, Kinder chocolate products, and the chocolate-hazelnut spread Nutella, snapped up Wells. Ferrero is also behind a wide range of other grocery products, from Tic Tac breath mints to Kellogg's cereal to Butterfinger candy bars. While Wells is owned by the Ferrero Group, it's a stand-alone business.

Wells Enterprises, which is headquartered in Le Mars, Iowa, has been around for more than a century. It started out as a dairy cart delivery business in 1913 operated by Fred H. Wells before growing to become the largest private-held ice cream manufacturer in the U.S. Today, it produces more than 200 million gallons of ice cream a year. Blue Bunny, with its wide range of frozen treats, is its signature brand.

With its acquisition of Fieldbrook Foods Corporation, located in Dunkirk, New York, Wells was able to expand its East Coast operations in the private-label sector, with products such as Aldi's Sundae Shoppe Cookies & Cream, which we ranked No. 4 in our definitive list of Aldi ice cream flavors. Since 2022, it's been under the umbrella of the Ferrero Group, which began as a small pastry shop in Alba, Italy, in 1946 to become a massive confectionery company that's continuing to expand into other areas of the grocery store, especially in the U.S. market. Next time you dig into a half-gallon container of Aldi's Sundae Shoppe ice cream you'll have more than just this sweet treat to contemplate, or, dare we say, chew over.