Where is friendlys ice cream made

Dean Foods said in a news release that it will continue to produce Friendly's Ice Cream at the year-old plant in Wilbraham. Including franchised and corporate restaurants, Friendly's has 16, employees, including in the Wilbraham plant and "support center" jobs in Wilbraham and at a distribution warehouse in Chicopee.

Friendly's Ice Cream is sold in more than 8, retail locations across the United States, and has seen percent growth in the retail business over the past five years, Friendly's said in its news release.

The company now produces 27 million gallons of ice cream each year for grocery stores. It also manufactures ice cream cakes and ice cream under store-brand labels for a number of retailers including Wal-Mart. Friendly's restaurants will continue to be owned by an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Inc. Friendly's existing senior restaurant management team will continue to lead the restaurant business, the company said Monday.

Friendly's had always touted its unique vertically integrated structure with the same company owning both the manufacturing business and the restaurants.

Brothers Curtis and S. Adjacent to the headquarters, there is a creamery which makes the ice cream that still serves much of the Friendly system. A second Friendly opens in West Springfield, Massachusetts. In Springfield, Massachusetts at the height of the Great Depression, two spunky brothers, 20 year old Prestley and 18 year old Curtis Blake open a modest neighborhood ice cream shoppe with double-dip cones for 5 cents. The young entrepreneurs name the business "Friendly" with the intention of providing warm, caring, neighborly service to all who visit.

Plus a ton of tasty sign-up benefits like these. Timeline 's. Friendly's celebrates 75 years of creating great memories. Friendly begins distributing ice cream in supermarkets. Sales per restaurant were up, and the company's annual revenues were growing slightly each year. Efforts to expand overseas also were being made, with ventures underway in the United Kingdom and the Far East.

By mid the company had renovated nearly 90 percent of its restaurants. It was on track to profitability, but the debt load and stiff competition in the marketplace had kept the balance sheet in the red since the purchase by TRC.

In July the company announced a new franchise program, selling 34 of its restaurants in Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D. Unfortunately, in early the price of fresh cream began to climb steeply, eventually tripling, and Friendly was forced to raise prices for its ice cream products while absorbing much of the increased expense. At the same time, stiff competition in the retail market was causing packaged ice cream sales to flatten out, and the boost in restaurant business that had been seen at renovated outlets also began to drop off.

In the latter case, analysts blamed the problems on continuing inconsistent service and a plethora of confusing menu additions. At the end of , the company announced that it would be closing its Troy, Ohio manufacturing and distribution center, moving those operations to the Wilbraham plant and a new facility in York, Pennsylvania.

The move was intended to save shipping costs, as Friendly no longer had restaurants in Ohio and York was much closer to its East Coast stronghold. Friendly also pulled out of ventures it had launched in China and the United Kingdom. In early the company announced the appointment of a new president and chief operating officer and a new chief financial officer.

The stock price was inching upward again, and analysts were applauding the new moves. Friendly rolled out a new product in the spring, the "Cyclone" soft-serve ice cream cone, which could be purchased with a variety of mixed-in additions such as candy, cookie, and fruit pieces.

This was the company's first soft-serve ice cream product ever and was brought out in part in response to the success of McDonald's new McFlurry dessert. Friendly announced that it would be the company's largest new product introduction ever, with advertisements to run on both television and radio.

Billboard ads and coupons in Friendly supermarket displays rounded out the campaign. The company also announced that it was stepping up the pace of franchise openings, with 25 scheduled for and 50 to 70 per year to follow.

Halfway through its seventh decade in business, Friendly Ice Cream Corp. Smith's goal of reinvigoration might be closer to fruition, as the debt load had been reduced and new measures to streamline operations were taking hold. Competition from the company's rivals was strong, however, and there was still work to be done before the company's health would be fully restored.

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