The Company Behind Aldi's Sundae Shoppe Ice Cream

It's a rare day when several Aldi items don't feature prominently on our shopping lists. Not only do Aldi's small-format stores tend to really appeal to customers, but the chain's low prices and smash-hit private label groceries refuse to be ignored. Nowadays, ice cream treats fall on our list of the best products to buy at Aldi, and many of these confections are labeled with the Sundae Shoppe banner. Many of Aldi's generic goods are actually made by big manufacturers, we've learned, and the store's no ice cream is no exception. By tracing a path down recall notices and acquisitions, we've arrived at the conclusion that Sundae Shoppe goods are likely made by the Ferrero Group, whose sweet outputs include Nutella and Ferrero Rocher candy.

In 2018, Sundae Shoppe fruit ice cream bars were involved in a recall associated with possible listeria contamination. Notably, the notice was issued by both Aldi and Fieldbrook Foods, indicating that the latter company was involved in the bars' manufacturing. In 2019, Fieldbrook Foods was bought out by Wells Enterprises (via Food Manufacturing), which, in turn, was acquired by the Ferrero Group in 2022, with a press release specifically calling out Wells' powerful stable of ice cream brands, which also include Halo Top and Blue Bunny. Did the Aldi Sundae Shoppe brand get passed along by so many changing hands? We can't be certain, but we'd say that the answer is likely yes.

Aldi's lack of brand-name products is by design, and meant to save money for its customers. When it comes to Sundae Shoppe ice cream, which is presumably made by a company that knows a thing or two about the process, customers are up in the air as to whether the savings are actually worth it. At its best, Sundae Shoppe flavors have been compared favorably to similar products by heavy-hitters Haagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry's. When they fall short, however, they really disappoint. This spectrum of quality was reflected in an Aldi's ice cream ranking over at Foodie's sister site TastingTable in which a dozen flavors (all of which were made by Sundae Shoppe) ranged from mediocre to mindblowing.

More polar opinions were reflected on a Reddit thread discussing the relative merits of Aldi's Sundae Shoppe brand. The low price got repeated shout-outs, but so did the fact that the ice cream was not premium in quality. Some users, like this one, were simply meh on the products: "I have the vanilla bean Sundae Shoppe in my freezer now, it's perfectly acceptable ice cream. I wouldn't say it has any weirdness but as others are saying, not absolute top quality. Maybe something about the depth of flavor is the difference." Is it possible that the Ferrero Group, which is known for acquiring popular ice cream brands, is cutting corners with the Sundae Shoppe brand? If you have any questions on the matter, you can conduct your own taste tests ... it will certainly give you an excuse to stuff your freezer with ice cream!

Static Media owns and operates Foodie and TastingTable.