Tip Top Ice Cream

Tip Top is a quintessential New Zealand brand with a history dating back to 1936. It was founded by Albert Hayman and Len Malaghan, who opened their first ice cream parlour in Wellington before registering the Tip Top Ice Cream Company as a manufacturing firm. Over the decades, the brand grew to become a household name in New Zealand, eventually opening a major, state-of-the-art factory at Mount Wellington in Auckland in 1962, which remains the primary site for its production today.

Ownership of the brand has transitioned through several major corporate entities throughout its history. Originally local and independent, it became part of General Foods, then Watties, and later Heinz. In 2001, it returned to major New Zealand cooperative ownership under Fonterra. However, in 2019, Fonterra sold the brand to Froneri, a global ice cream powerhouse. Despite this international ownership, Tip Top remains deeply rooted in its country of origin, continuing to use fresh milk and cream from New Zealand's grass-fed cows for its local production.