Tetra Pak acquires Germany’s Big Drum to boost presence in ice cream segment

Global food processing and packaging solution provider Tetra Pak has acquired Big Drum Engineering, a German supplier of ice cream filling machines, for an undisclosed sum.

Big Drum provides medium-to-high capacity filling machines for the global ice cream market.

The acquisition is expected to boost Tetra Pak’s presence and product offering in the filled ice cream segment such as tubs and cones, which represents nearly half of the global packaged ice cream market.

Tetra Pak Processing Systems executive vice-president Monica Gimre said: “This acquisition means we can now provide an even more extensive range of production solutions for ice cream manufacturers and expand our collaboration with them.

“This, in turn, will allow us to deliver even greater value, by securing efficiencies in technical service across a number of different lines, and offering portfolio-wide support to their product development and marketing activities.”

Upon completion of the deal, Tetra Pak will retain the existing team of Big Drum at their current location.

Tetra Pak currently offers a wide range of ice cream equipment that includes raw material storage, mix preparation, continuous freezing and inclusion systems, as well as production solutions for moulded and extruded ice cream products.

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Image: Ice cream cone top filling. Photo: courtesy of Tetra Pak International SA.