German ice cream maker Florida Eis is expanding local production capacity with a new factory in Schönebeck (Elbe).

On Thursday (20 August), Florida Eis said the new plant in Schönebeck’s West Industrial Park on Wilhelm-Dümling-Straße will be designed to produce around 5,000 metric tonnes of ice cream each year.

Operations are due to start in 2028.

The company plans to spend about €25m ($29.1m) on the factory, which will include a roughly 4,000-square-metre production hall, logistics areas, and an office building with an ice cream parlour and a factory outlet.

In a separate statement to Just Food, the company said the new factory is intended to ease capacity constraints at its current plant in Berlin-Spandau, where it has operated since it was founded in 1927.

“The Berlin plant is reaching its capacity limits in terms of both production and logistics,” it said.

Florida Eis expects the investment to generate “up to 500 jobs”.

It said the number of workers is expected to increase “steadily” as additional production stations are installed.

The company added that the factory’s location close to the A2 and A14 motorways would enable “faster and more efficient” products distribution throughout Germany.

Florida Eis also pointed to the site’s focus on energy efficiency and on-site power generation.

Olaf Höhn, the managing director of Florida Eis, said: “We’re not just building a new ice cream factory in Schönebeck - we want to show how food production can work in the future: sustainably, energy-self-sufficient, innovatively, and economically. Schönebeck offers us the best conditions for this.”

Florida-Eis told Just Food it has spent the past several years shifting from a local and regional producer to a manufacturer of premium treats with nationwide reach in Germany.

“Consequently, the priority is to fully tap into the German market and strengthen its leading position in this segment.”

Currently, the company sells its products through supermarket chains across Germany, with those retailers, together with the foodservice sector, forming its main customer base.

The company said annual revenue increased over the past two fiscal years, rising from €25m to just under €30m.

It forecasts “further growth” this year, with annual sales expected to reach around €30m.