Melbourne gelato company Bon Appetit has stepped in at the eleventh hour to rescue the Dairy Bell ice cream brand.
Bon Appetit Australia paid an undisclosed sum for the Dairy Bell brands, recipes and retail outlets, and it will make Dairy Bell products to the same recipe at its own manufacturing plant.
Dairy Bell's manufacturing plant and office was recently sold by a local developer and will become a medium-density apartment block.
Dairy Bell announced in January that it would close our two factories, blaming the “supermarket ice cream wars” which it said had cost the retailer profit and the manufacturer loss of margin.
The company's directors said this had reduced its capacity to recover costs for four years, with its capital being eroded year by year.
They also said continuing ingredient and labour rises made plant and machinery replacement and profit budgeting impossible.
“Thank you for your support over the years but as the song goes you must know when to hold it and know when to fold it," they said at the time.
Bon Appetit managing director Lou Da Lozzo said the company had started discussions with the owners of Dairy Bell about a month ago, according to a Fairfax Media report.
He also said Dairy Bell had been geared toward producing home brand products for the supermarkets, but his plan was to rebuild the Dairy Bell brand.
