The Frozen Treats Influencing The Construction Industry

Get the scoop on ice cream builds.

July marks Ice Cream Month in all those countries that celebrate it. Supposedly, the nation’s favourite ice cream is the classic vanilla, with a 99 flake and raspberry ripple getting ever closer to that top spot.

You probably don’t think that construction and ice cream have much in common, but as the weather gets hotter and those sweet treats begin to sell out, it quickly becomes apparent that something has to change to keep up with demand. 

Investing In A Colder Future 

Did you know that in the UK alone we eat over 320 million kilograms every year? That seems like an impossible number, but with international manufacturers shipping ice cream over by the bucketload and bespoke UK vendors creating their own specialised products backed by British farming, the industry is absolutely thriving. 

Naturally, the construction space has had to step up and help expand those ice cream-making facilities, building an infrastructure fit for a future of chilled goodness. For instance, Unilever, which owns the Magnum Ice Cream Company, has invested over £50 million in upgrading its Gloucester factory. The facility is now Europe’s second largest ice cream factory and produces everything from Twisters to the classic Magnum. 

Froneri, meanwhile, just spent £750,000 on expanding the warehouse at its factory in Skelmersdale, Lancashire. With the Yorkshire-based Castlehouse Construction working on the project, we can expect more Cadbury, Nuii and Oreo products to be deployed from the site. 

More Than A 99

It is estimated that ice cream brings anywhere between £1.5 billion and £3.3 billion to the UK economy. That’s an impressive figure, but one that doesn’t do justice to the individual impact that these sales have on those smaller, home-grown brands. Because those businesses are also opening up opportunities for new construction projects. 

There’s a trend of boutique expansions as of late, for example, as small ice cream brands move into commercial units that need additional insulation and equipment built in. Equally, farms are starting their own micro-dairy projects, meaning construction experts are brought in to set up new systems for success. 

All across the country, new ice cream manufacturers have popped up. With nearly 800 in the industry currently, over half of those have arrived in the last 8 years, demonstrating a significant boom. With millions melting into the construction space as those brands need consistent support, it seems that there is a bigger scoop up for grabs for builders everywhere.