Mr. Whippy (United Kingdom)

Mr. Whippy (or Mister Whippy) is a brand of soft-mix ice cream produced by Wall's, a subsidiary of Unilever as part of the Heartbrand. Mr. Whippy began as a franchise of ice cream operators, but is now just the name of the soft-mix ice cream, as such, many ice cream vendors selling the soft-mix brand themselves as "Mr. Whippy" and stylise their vehicles and outlets as they wish. Actual franchises of the brand continue separately in Australia and New Zealand.[1]

This article is about the original Mr. Whippy as founded in the United Kingdom. For the separate Australian business, see Mr. Whippy Australia. For the separate New Zealand business, see Mr. Whippy New Zealand.

Mr. Whippy
TypeCompany and franchise
IndustryFood
Retail
Direct service
Founded1958 (1958)
FounderDominic Facchino
Headquarters
United Kingdom
Key people
Peter Woodhams
OwnerUnilever
ParentWall's (ice cream)

The name "Mr. Whippy" has become a generic trademark in the United Kingdom amongst consumers to refer to soft-serve ice cream in a single cone.[2]

History

The company originated when British businessman Dominic Facchino visited the United States and saw the Mister Softee ice cream franchise, selling soft serve ice cream from mobile ice cream vans. Unable to license the brand in the UK, Facchino set up his own Mr. Whippy franchise in Birmingham in 1958,[3] starting with a fleet of six vans.

The company was purchased by Unilever in 1966.

The packaging for the Mr. Whippy mix, as purchased by vendors.

International
Main articles: Mr. Whippy Australia and Mr. Whippy New Zealand
An example of a Mr. Whippy vendor, using the brand name on the vehicle, whilst choosing custom vehicle branding and stylisation.

The company franchised internationally to Australia in 1962 by sending ten vans on a ship from Southampton to Sydney. Following success, a second batch was sent the following year, consisting of twenty-four vans. Following great success in Australia, Facchino decided to also franchise in New Zealand, sending twenty-four vans over. During the franchise period from Mr. Whippy in the UK, around two hundred Commer Karrier vans were exported from the United Kingdom to Australia, and fifty Austins were exported to New Zealand.[4] The company also franchised for a brief time on the Spanish island of Mallorca.[5][6]

The company's franchise in Australia continued until the mid-1970s, after which the physical vehicle fleet was renamed and sold to several private operators. In 1982, the trademark "Mr. Whippy" was registered in Australia by ice cream parlour company Mr. Whippy Pty Ltd. Today, the Franchised Food Company owns the brand.

General Foods Limited (subsequently Tip Top) acquired the master rights for New Zealand in the early 1980s. The Isuzu Elf became the standard Mr. Whippy van and an orange and white colour scheme replaced the original pink and white. In early 2000, Tip Top sold the master franchise to Peter Woodhams, the Waikato Mr. Whippy franchisee, who in turn sold the master franchise to Flying Kiwi Holdings (a business owned and run by Nick Cairns, Scot and Geliana Graham) in 2006. The Mr. Whippy vans became modernised, using Ford Transit and Fiat Ducato models, various Fuso variants and Tatua replaced Fonterra Brands NZ as the provider of the Mr. Whippy UHT ice cream mix. As of the present day, in New Zealand, there are around 36 Mr. Whippy franchisees operating 58 vans.

References
  1. "Walls – Softmix Ice Cream". Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. "Walls – Softmix Ice Cream".
  3. Velasquez, S. J. "The weird tale behind ice cream jingles". www.bbc.com. Archived from the original on 15 January 2021. Retrieved 14 January 2023.
  4. "» History". Retrieved 12 July 2020.
  5. "Mr Whippy licked into shape for summer". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
  6. "Heat on Mr Whippy imitators". The West Australian. 14 September 2015. Archived from the original on 11 November 2015. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
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