Melbourne ice-cream maker Dairy Bell finds new owner

Forty-five-year-old Melbourne ice-cream maker Dairy Bell has been saved from closure and will open a new store near its old East Malvern manufacturing plant.

Gelato, ice-cream and frozen desserts company Bon Appetit Australia has paid an undisclosed sum for the Dairy Bell brands, recipes and five Melbourne shops.

Dairy Bell announced plans to close last month, blaming the "supermarket ice-cream wars", high penalty rates for staff on weekends, and the prospect of higher ingredients and labour costs.

But under a deal revealed today, Dairy Bell products will be manufactured by Bon Appetit in Reservoir, recipes unchanged, and sold to IGA and independent supermarkets, organic stores, cafes and restaurants.

Bon Appetit managing director Lou Da Lozzo said the company had started discussions with the owners of Dairy Bell about a month ago and signed off on the deal last week.

"I think there were some other players after us [interested in buying] and once we shook on the deal, the two gentlemen that owned the business were happy and honoured the deal and we've gone forward."

The deal created a merger of equals, he said. "Their business was very geared in supplying the major supermarkets under home brands, and we're basically looking at rebuilding the Dairy Bell brand. It's an iconic Victorian producer."

"Our strength is in gelato products, which we also retail through the IGA, cafes and restaurants, and the Dairy Bell will give us an ice-cream arm."

Bon Appetit is a privately held company with about 30 to 40 staff.

Dairy Bell owner and co-founder Andrew Razums said last month he was "very proud" of his solvent business, which started in 1970 and at one point had 20 stores across Australia.

"We've got a lot of satisfied customers and there are a lot of people who came to us as a child and now they're mums themselves and they're bringing their children in," he said.

Dairy Bell's 3000-square-metre manufacturing plant and office was recently sold to local developer Little Projects, backed by former Toll Holdings chief Paul Little, to be replaced with a medium-density apartment block with lower-level shops.

A new store would be opened about a 10 minutes' walk from the old store, Da Lozzo said.