Nestle battles it out with Unilever in ice cream wars gone global; dominance in developing countries as well as USA and Europe at stake. Fight for share of market extends beyond human crowd, as Unilever unit is going to the dogs for sales.(ICE CREAM SCOOPS)

Quick Frozen Foods International, October, 2007

The Cold War is long over, but the ice cream war is still heating up, with global giants Nestle and Unilever squaring off for dominance of a $59 billion international market. And the dogs of war are slugging it out in the canine trenches for share of Fido's dessert bowl, as well as on the human front.

Ordinary consumers aren't aware of the war, or the stakes, observed Mark Scott, in a recent analysis for Business Week. All they know is that they love their Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey, Dreyer's low-fat line or Berthillon's pear sorbet.

But the days of room-and-pop ice cream parlors and local brands are fading fast. Today, Switzerland's Nestle and Anglo-Dutch conglomerate Unilever together control more than a third of the worldwide market--including...

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