familiar to the Surinamese market for decades.
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The need for ice cream in Suriname started to rise during the 2nd World War, due to the arrival of the American soldiers. During that period, our products were produced by the I. Fernandes & Son Bottling Company, now Fernandes Bottling Company. The first product that was introduced was scoop ice cream in a 60 ml packaging. After a while our well-known ice sticks were introduced.
The Surinamese community has know the popular sugar cones from Spanhoek Soda Fountain since the 1960’s. This means that our products are still going strong for over 70 years. Over the years, several competitors have tried to enter the Surinamese market but Fernandes Ice Cream has managed to position their products as a strong brand.
Fernandes Ice Cream N.V. was officially established on July 14th 1997. The company moved to the Kernkampweg in 1999 and developed its own identity during this period. An official name and logo were introduced for Fernandes Ice Cream. In addition, both the packaging and the quality of the products were adjusted.
The range of scoop ice cream and the ice cream sticks is now much more extensive with various flavors and packaging. Fernandes Ice Cream N.V. is currently the market leader in ice cream products in Suriname.
As of 2012 Fernandes Ice Cream prepared for the export of their own products and started exporting the first containers in 2014 to Barbados and in 2015 to Guyana. In March 2018 Fernandes Ice Cream expanded their export business also to Jamaica.
Locally, Fernandes Ice Cream provides in the distribution of the products that we carry in our portfolio. We supply several segments of the market, which are:
Retail outlets: supermarkets, ice cream parlors, vendors, kiosks.
Hospitality sector: restaurants and hotels.
Other companies: medium-big companies and schools.
Fernandes Ice Cream N.V. is part of the Fernandes Group, together with Fernandes Bakery N.V., Fernandes Bottling Company N.V., Fernandes Technical Center N.V., Fernandes Agenturen N.V., Fernandes Handel Maatschappij N.V. and Fernandes Automotives N.V.
Fernandes Ice Cream N.V. is FSSC 22000 certified.
The successful journey of the Fernandes Group company started at the beginning of the previous century when Isaak Fernandes started the Fernandes Group by opening a small novelty shop in Paramaribo in 1901. The company did well and grew steadily, but really took off after acquiring the Coca-Cola Franchise in 1938. With this milestone, the company rapidly expanded into other sectors of the economy under the inspiring leadership of Isaak's son Jule Fernandes. To this date the Fernandes Group is the largest privately owned company in Suriname, plays a leading role in many sectors of the Surinamese economy and is still owned by the Fernandes family (4th generation).
Fernandes Group is the market leader in the non-Alcoholic ready to drink beverages through our Coca-Cola Franchise. We are also the leading producer of bread, ice cream and snacks and distributors of strong international brands such as Grace, Freixenet and Agio cigars.
Fernandes Automotive is also a local key player, representing Honda, Isuzu, Volkswagen and Subaru. Our Power tools shop represents and distribute Makita, Astra and sell Philips and Honda Power tools.