Mr. Whippy (or Mister Whippy) is a brand of soft-mix

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

produced by Wall's, a subsidiary of

Unilever Unilever plc is a British multinational consumer goods company with headquarters in London, England. Unilever products include food, condiments, bottled water, baby food, soft drink, ice cream, instant coffee, cleaning agents, energy drink, t ...

as part of the

Heartbrand This is a list of brands owned by the British multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Unilever's billion euro brands These brands have annual sales of one billion euros or more: * Axe/Lynx *Dove *Omo/Persil * Heartbrand (Wall's) ice ...

. 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 Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. The name "Mr. Whippy" has become a

generic trademark A generic trademark, also known as a genericized trademark or proprietary eponym, is a trademark or brand name that, because of its popularity or significance, has become the generic term for, or synonymous with, a general class of products or ...

in the United Kingdom amongst consumers to refer to

soft-serve ice cream Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream but softer and less dense due to air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the US. In the US, soft serve is ...

in a single cone.

History

The company originated when British businessman Dominic Facchino visited the United States and saw the

Mister Softee Mister Softee, Inc. (doing business as Mister Softee) is an American ice cream truck franchisor, best known in the northeastern United States. The company is based in Runnemede, New Jersey. Business history Mister Softee was founded in 1956 by ...

ice cream franchise, selling

soft serve Soft serve, also known as soft ice, is a frozen dessert, similar to ice cream but softer and less dense due to air being introduced during freezing. Soft serve has been sold commercially since the late 1930s in the US. In the US, soft serve is ...

ice cream from mobile

ice cream van An ice cream van (British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near ...

s. Unable to license the brand in the UK, Facchino set up his own Mr. Whippy franchise in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

in 1958, starting with a fleet of six vans. The company was purchased by

in 1966.

International

The company franchised internationally to

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. The company also franchised for a brief time on the Spanish island of

Mallorca Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean. The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bal ...

. 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 The is a medium duty truck produced by Isuzu since 1959. Outside Japan it is known as N series and Q Series. The range was originally mainly available in Japan and other Asian countries. Australia was another important market for the Elf and N ...

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

{{Food chains in Australia Ice cream parlors Dairy products companies of Australia 1958 establishments in the United Kingdom Ice cream brands Manufacturing companies based in Melbourne Ice cream vans Food and drink companies established in 1958 History of Birmingham, West Midlands