GIGI GELATO acquired by GREENYARD
Context
This transaction represents a complete ownership transition of Gigi Gelato to Greenyard’s Long Fresh division, structured to maintain management continuity through the retention of the target’s three original founders to lead ongoing product R&D and commercial positioning. The acquisition fits Greenyard’s strict capital deployment logic, which dictates migrating the product mix toward premium, high-margin frozen snacks that can instantly leverage the group’s existing infrastructure, procurement scale, and pan-European retail distribution tracks. Under its founders, Gigi Gelato proved its concept across multiple test markets but reached an operational bottleneck due to scaling and distribution constraints inherent to early-stage consumer brands. Post-acquisition priorities will center on embedding the target’s product line into Greenyard’s high-volume ICR contracts to drive immediate shelf-space expansion, optimizing unit economics through collective raw material procurement, and scaling manufacturing volumes to improve the capacity utilization of the group's frozen logistics network.
GIGI GELATO, which reported an EBITDA margin of in 2023, is valued in this transaction at an EV/EBITDA multiple of , a level to compare with the average currently observed in the AgriFood sector (11.8x).
-> Deep-dive in AgriFood market trends
Target
Gigi Gelato is a Netherlands-headquartered, Wageningen-based developer and brand owner of plant-based, clean-label frozen novelties produced via co-manufacturing arrangements in Italy. The company’s product architecture consists of Italian-style gelato and frozen lollies formulated from a proprietary combination of fruits and vegetables—including strawberry-beetroot, mango-fennel, ginger-carrot, and pineapple-spinach profiles—packaged in multi-packs of three 70-gram units. Its manufacturing formulations deliberately exclude dairy inputs, stabilizer additives, and synthetic flavorings, utilizing advanced ingredient texturization to replicate the mouthfeel and melting profile of conventional dairy ice cream. Revenue generation is driven by wholesale volume sales to tier-one grocery retailers and foodservice channels across key European jurisdictions, notably the Netherlands, Portugal, and Italy. Sales are governed by structured commercial listings and programmatic retail buyer procurement cycles, where shelf-space allocation depends heavily on product velocity, multi-pack format convenience, and alignment with fast-growing natural food trends.
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REFERENCES
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Authors: This transaction was contributed by a verified mynth contributor and cross-checked against available transaction documents and official company communications.
Press release: view release
Target: gigi gelato
Acquirer: greenyard