The Magnum Ice Cream Company chooses strong regional network

The company was until recently the ice cream division of Unilever and will be officially disentangled by the end of this year.

Ellen van Ginkel

“We deliberately chose Amsterdam, close to the parties we’d like to work with, now and in the future,” says Ellen van Ginkel. “Such as tech companies and organisations in the financial and legal sector. And, of course, our clients! In addition, some of our communications agencies have large offices here. These collaborations help us achieve innovation and digital transformation.

“Amsterdam offers a good tech ecosystem for international companies and is attractive to international talent. The latter is important for us, seeing that we already have about 50 different nationalities working at our headquarters.

“And a business that sells ice cream just fits right in the bustling center of Amsterdam.”

What will The Magnum Ice Cream Company be doing at this beautiful location?

“The Bloomhouse offers the opportunity to bring our teams closer together. European and global management teams work right next to each other in one office. That was not the case before. It involves marketing and sales and support functions such as HR, legal, communications, finance and strategy. We expect this to make our work more fun and efficient.

“We have also created a brand new experience center. Here, we’ll introduce customers, suppliers, partners and employees to the latest products and innovations of our brands and markets.

“The production of ice cream for the Dutch market is done at our factory in Hellendoorn, Overijssel.”

Peter ter Kulve, President of the Ice Cream business (left) and Chairman-designate Jean-François van Boxmeer unveiled the new name.

You became a partner right away. What are you hoping for?

“As a network partner of the Amsterdam Economic Board, we want to connect with other partners in this strong regional network in a short period of time. These include the parties I already mentioned. But we would also like to get in touch with parties in the public domain and civil society, as well as relevant academic groups.

“Additionally, we’d like to contribute to a better region. The topics that the Amsterdam Economic Board puts on the agenda are important to us. Like sustainable business and innovation and tech.”

What challenges for The Magnum Ice Cream Company require multi-party collaboration?

“In the short term, our biggest challenge is to make sure the separation from Unilever goes well. Quite a job, because all systems have to be separated. In addition, we are preparing for the growth of the new organisation. We aim to create around 200 new jobs in Amsterdam.

“For the longer term, we want to strengthen our leading position within the global ice cream category. This requires investment and collaboration in innovation and marketing. And opportunities to further optimise our production facilities and processes with tech and AI.”

What had you been most looking forward to for the official opening?

“Finally we could show our new headquarters to everyone close to us. Our colleagues in the industry, customers, suppliers, the municipality of Amsterdam and our neighbours in Reguliersdwarsstraat. We’ll also celebrate the opening in a big way with our own teams.

“I hope everyone will be as excited as I am about the new place and its look and feel. Because: Life Tastes Better with Ice Cream.”