I love ice cream. In fact, it’s my favorite desert. I’ve also been to Vevay, Switzerland, the home of Nestle which just became the largest ice cream company in the world.

Nestlé S.A. yesterday achieved full ownership of Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream Holdings, an important milestone in the ambitious global ice cream strategy it has pursued for over ten years. This follows the 2003 merger of Nestlé’s US ice cream business with Dreyer’s which resulted in Nestlé owning 67% of the combined company at the time. Nestlé, through the Dreyer’s business, has continued to gain market share in the US throughout the year, reaching 23.2% in 2005 according to ACNielsen data. Taking into account the proposed acquisition of Delta Ice Cream in Greece announced last month, Nestlé has now achieved clear global leadership in ice cream, with a 17.5% world market share.