Diplom-Is AS is a Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 manufacturer of ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

 owned by the dairy group Tine

Tine (company)

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. In 2005, the company produced 51100000 litres (107,993,643 US pt) of ice cream, and held a market share

Market share

Market share is the percentage of a market accounted for by a specific entity. In a survey of nearly 200 senior marketing managers, 67 percent responded that they found the "dollar market share" metric very useful, while 61% found "unit market share" very useful.Marketers need to be able to...

 of 53% domestically.

Among the most notable own brands are Royal, Dream, Krone-Is, Pin-Up, Lollipop, Sandwich, Pia, Gullpinne, Gigant and Klin Kokos. It also produces the franchise Mövenpick

Mövenpick Ice Cream

Mövenpick Ice Cream is a brand of ice cream of Swiss origin produced by the Nestlé corporation. In April 2003, Nestlé bought the international rights for Mövenpick ice cream, and an independent business unit called Swiss Premium Ice Cream was created...

, Mars

Mars Bar

Mars is a chocolate bar manufactured by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in Slough, Berkshire in the United Kingdom in 1932 as a sweeter version of the US Milky Way bar which Mars, Inc. produced...

 and Nestlé

Nestlé

Nestlé S.A. is the world's largest food and nutrition company. Founded and headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, Nestlé originated in a 1905 merger of the Anglo-Swiss Milk Company, established in 1867 by brothers George Page and Charles Page, and Farine Lactée Henri Nestlé, founded in 1866 by Henri...

 in Scandinavia.

History

The first ice cream factories in Norway were established in the 1920s, and towards the end of the decade the Norwegian Dairies established their own brand, Diplom Is in Oslo

Oslo

Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...

. By 1931 the production went on continually through the year, and Oslo got its own ice cream truck. Production was low during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, and after the war there were numerous independent ice cream manufacturers. Many of these were owned by the regional dairy cooperatives. In 1951 these were all brand

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

ed as Diplom-Is and the brand became national. Though having a common brand, it was not until 1991 that all the production of ice cream by the dairies was collected in one company, Norsk Iskrem BA (lit. Norwegian Ice Cream). The following four years saw the "ice cream war" between Diplom-Is and the Swedish

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 GB Is

GB Glace

thumb|"GB-gubben", the company mascotGB Glace is the largest ice cream company in Sweden. It was founded in 1942, and was purchased by the Anglo-Dutch company Unilever in 1996...

, but by 1995 GB had to withdraw from the market. At the same time Diplom-Is started to franchise produce

Franchising

Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business model. The word 'franchise' is of anglo-French derivation - from franc- meaning free, and is used both as a noun and as a verb....

 the Swiss

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

 brand Mövenpick

Mövenpick Ice Cream

Mövenpick Ice Cream is a brand of ice cream of Swiss origin produced by the Nestlé corporation. In April 2003, Nestlé bought the international rights for Mövenpick ice cream, and an independent business unit called Swiss Premium Ice Cream was created...

. In 1992, the company established itself in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, and in 2004 in Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

. In 2002 the legal name changed to Diplom-Is AS.