The Magnum Ice Cream Company (TMICC), a leading ice cream business, has opened its new Research, Design & Innovation Centre in Bengaluru, India. Spanning 13,000 square feet, this future-ready facility houses an advanced laboratory and a digitally enabled pilot plant.
Located in Whitefield, Bengaluru—India’s technology hub—the center brings together ice cream science, culinary craft, packaging expertise, and consumer technical insights under one roof, supported by the city’s strong food science, supplier, and start-up ecosystems.
Designed as a Creative Lab where science meets indulgence, the center is established to accelerate consumer-led product and packaging innovation across Kwality Wall’s, Cornetto, Magnum, Carte D’Or, Feast, and Twister brands. Its capabilities span product and process development, packaging, consumer technical insights, and regulatory assessment, helping translate emerging consumer needs into products rooted in Indian tastes and occasions.
The center includes ice cream-making, product and packaging assessment, sensory testing, and a digitally enabled pilot plant with advanced technologies. It enables faster experimentation across cups, sticks, cones, kulfi, and premium ice cream cakes, while cold-chain and climate testing, 3D packaging prototyping, and transport simulations help ensure innovations are designed for real-world Indian market conditions.
“Kwality Wall’s has been part of the Indian ice cream scene for more than seven decades, consistently delighting consumers with new flavors and familiar icons. As part of The Magnum Ice Cream Company, we now have access to world-class R&D capabilities, deeper product expertise and a sharper innovation ecosystem. The new Bengaluru ice cream center will help us respond faster to evolving consumer preferences, create products that are relevant to Indian tastes and occasions, and continue building a future-ready ice cream business in India.” Chitrank Goel, deputy managing director, Kwality Wall’s (India) Limited, said in a release.
Global R&D capabilities, local insights, consumer-led innovation
The new Bengaluru RD&I Centre will work closely with TMICC’s Global Design Centre in Colworth, UK, and Regional Innovation hub in Istanbul, Turkey, to bring to life new products inspired by local consumer insight and deep market understanding. This combination of global capability and local relevance will help strengthen the innovation pipeline, improve product quality, accelerate speed to market, and bring relevant global dairy platforms to life for the Indian market.
“India is one of the world’s most exciting ice cream markets, with fast-evolving tastes, occasions and expectations. The new Bengaluru RD&I Centre brings together our global science, technology and culinary expertise with deep local consumer insight, helping us to move faster from idea to market-ready innovation. From product and packaging development to sensory assessment and cold-chain validation, this new centre will play an important role in creating products that are more relevant, more distinctive and more exciting for consumers in India.” Zbigniew Lewicki, chief research, development & innovation officer, The Magnum Ice Cream Company.
The inauguration reinforces TMICC’s focus on building a strong, fit-for-the-future ice cream business in India through innovation, premiumization, quality and local execution. As India’s ice cream category continues to grow, the Bengaluru RD&I Centre will play a critical role in supporting KWIL’s innovation pipeline and creating world-class products for Indian consumers.
Kwality Wall’s (India) acquisition
In an earlier news, TMICC had announced that it had completed the acquisition of 61.9% of the equity shares of Kwality Wall’s (India) (KWIL) under the terms of the Share Purchase Agreement with Unilever dated 25 June 2025.
KWIL will continue to trade on BSE and NSE, the Indian stock exchanges, as a majority-owned subsidiary of the TMICC Group.
Abhijit Bhattacharya, CFO of The Magnum Ice Cream Company, said, “This transaction strengthens TMICC’s presence in one of the world’s fastest-growing, under-penetrated ice cream markets. It combines TMICC’s global brand strength, and innovation capabilities, with KWIL’s strong local heritage, manufacturing footprint, and extensive distribution network across India. With TMICC’s global expertise and the strong local management team in India, we are confident of accelerating category growth and building a future-ready business that continues to create value for consumers and shareholders.”
A mandatory tender offer, made in accordance with applicable Indian laws, is currently underway and it is expected to conclude within the next 4-6 months. If, pursuant to the tender offer, TMICC’s shareholding in KWIL exceeds 75%, TMICC will be required to reduce its shareholding to not more than 75% within one year, in order to comply with the minimum public shareholding requirements.
India plans
In May this year, CEO Peter ter Kulve said during an investor call that The Magnum Ice Cream Company is ramping up its India strategy, with plans to expand its manufacturing footprint from one to four factories to capitalize on the country’s rapidly growing appetite for ice cream.
He emphasized the need to scale up the supply chain to support strong demand growth, noting, “With our current growth rates, one factory is no longer sufficient—we need four.”
This expansion follows a major overhaul of the company’s India portfolio, shifting from vegetable fat-based frozen desserts to dairy-led ice creams in line with evolving consumer preferences. The company has also adjusted pricing to make its offerings more competitive within India’s broader snacking landscape.
India, already the world’s largest dairy market, is increasingly viewed as a future powerhouse for ice cream consumption, driven by rising incomes, urbanization, and premiumization trends. The domestic ice cream market is currently estimated at around US$5 billion, led by players such as Amul.
The India push comes after Unilever spun off its ice cream division to enable faster, market-specific decision-making. This newly independent structure is allowing the business to invest more aggressively in high-growth markets such as India.
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Naresh Khanna – 10 February 2025
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