Dreyer's

Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Nestlé, is a United States-based producer of ice cream and frozen yogurt founded in 1928 as Edy's Grand Ice Cream in Oakland, California by Joseph Edy and William Dreyer. In 1947 the partnership was dissolved, and in 1953 William Dreyer Jr. took over and changed the name to Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream. In 1963, Junior sold the company to his key officers -- Al Wolff who ran the factory, Bob Boone who ran distribution, and Ken Cook, who managed sales and served as president from 1963 to 1977. Cook's vision was to provide American families with a truly premium ice cream they could enjoy at home. In 1977, with sales of $6 million and an employee base of 75 people, Cook sold the company to T. Gary Rogers and W.F. "Rick" Cronk for $1 million. Rogers and Cronk guided the company over the next 30 years to become the leading premium ice cream brand in the country, growing from $6 million in 1977 to $2.5 billion. Three strategies drove that growth for Dreyer's: 1) the establishment of a premiere Direct Store Delivery (DSD) system, which ensured the quality of the product in the freezer case; 2) innovation that extended from new products and flavors to scan-based trading and the slow-churned technology; and 3) its "I Can Make a Difference" grooves culture and philosophy within the organization. In 1981 the company expanded and re-adopted the name Edy's Grand Ice Cream when marketing its product east of the Rocky Mountains, so as to not be confused with another company named Breyers (today owned by Unilever). Hence they market under the Dreyer's name in the Western United States, and under the Edy's name in the Eastern and Midwestern United States.