Unilever to step up ice foods development

Unilever expects to bring more larger, exciting ice foods concepts to market far more rapidly, following the launch of its twin-site research and development centre last week.

The Ice Foods Centre of Excellence is a novel arrangement, operating out of Colworth Science Park in the UK and Caivano near Naples in Italy. It employs 135 staff - 80 at Colworth - and consolidates Unilever’s national research operations around the globe. It is the third of six Centres of Excellence that Unilever plans to establish to concentrate expertise in different sectors, which had previously been quite fragmented.

By ensuring a technological lead, Unilever is attempting to raise the barrier to entry for competitors into tomorrow’s ice foods market. “Only by building high entry barriers do we build profits,” claimed Unilever’s Peter Ter Kulve, global vice president of Unilever’s ice cream category, at the launch last week.

“What this new organisation does is it allows us to get all the people into two centres so we can really exchange knowledge and learn from each other,” said director of the new centre Iain Campbell, who admitted he had concerns about the impact of consolidation when the idea was first proposed.

Now it is up and running, Campbell is convinced it was the right way to go. Colworth will concentrate on its expertise in technological developments for roll-out around the world and Caivano on introducing the new products and concepts into Europe. “It allows us to be a bit braver with our innovations,” said Campbell. “It allows us to move faster. Also it allows us to roll out technology globally much quicker.

“At the end of the day if our consumers aren’t wowed by our products they don’t buy them. The ice cream consumer expects to see new exciting products on the price board every year and that’s my job - to keep the consumers excited and satisfied.”

In May Unilever opened its Centre of Excellence for Drinks​ in Colworth. In March it opened a Centre of Excellence for Structured Emulsions in Vlaardingen, the Netherlands, linked to other sites in France and the US. Next year it has plans for similar centres for liquid foods in Poznan in Poland; assembled foods in Cisterna, Italy; and dry foods in Heilbron, Germany.