Breyers® History

In 1866 as America recovered from the Civil War, William A. Breyer of Philadelphia hand-cranked his first gallon of ice cream. It was a special ice cream consisting of rich cream, pure cane sugar, fresh fruits, nuts, and other natural flavors – some of the very same ingredients used today. He sold it to his neighbors with the promise that his ice cream was made the old-fashioned way. Word spread quickly, and Breyers® Ice Cream was soon declared Philadelphia’s best.

William Breyer Promises The Best -

And Delivers

William Breyer opened his first retail ice cream shop in 1882. Within a short time he and his family opened four more retail shops. Breyer continued to make all of the ice cream in the back of one of the shops, cranking it by hand and delivering it with his horse-drawn wagon.

In 1896, 30 years after founder William Breyer made his first gallon of ice cream, his family set up its first wholesale manufacturing plant. Breyer’s son, Henry, incorporated the business in 1908 and continued his father’s commitment to produce high-quality ice cream. He added the now-famous "Pledge of Purity" to every package of Breyers® Ice Cream as his personal guarantee that Breyers® was indeed the best ice cream available.

Breyers® – A National Brand

By 1918, Breyers® Ice Cream Company was producing more than a million gallons of ice cream a year and shipping it to New York City and Staten Island, New York; Newark, New Jersey; and Washington, D.C. In 1926, Breyers® Ice Cream Company became a division of the National Dairy Products Corporation (NDPC), a growing organization of well-known brands. In 1969, NDPC then became the Kraftco Corporation and, before long, Breyers® Ice Cream became a favorite throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. In 1970, it was introduced in Georgia, Florida, and other areas of the eastern U.S. In 1976, Breyers’ parent company became Kraft, Inc., and in 1984, Breyers® All Natural Ice Cream became available west of the Mississippi River for the first time.

In 1993, Unilever bought Breyers® and Sealtest® ice creams from Kraft and made them part of the Gold Bond-Good Humor Ice Cream Company in Green Bay, Wis., renaming the company the Good Humor-Breyers® Ice Cream Company.