Working with Food Union since 2011 — from two Latvian factories to a group across seven countries, and an agency that joined the client's board to make the work go faster.
Eliminating the boundary between strategy and executive execution.
In 2011, two Latvian dairies—Rīgas Piena Kombināts and Valmieras Piens—were consolidated to form Food Union. Mildberry was brought in from day one, under an unusual mandate: Mildberry founder Oleg Beriev took a seat on Food Union’s board of directors while continuing to lead the agency.
This was not an honorary role. A holding company assembled through rapid acquisition naturally inherits as many conflicting marketing standards as it has factories. Furthermore, the local teams acquired alongside those assets varied widely in capability, requiring extensive restructuring and integration. Holding a board seat removed the procedural friction between analysis and execution—allowing Mildberry to operate with maximum speed, authority, and depth.
years of relationship
projects developed
countries
brands
Food Union grew through targeted M&A, acquiring Premia (Estonia and Lithuania), Premier Is (Denmark), Isbjørn Is (Norway), and Alpin57Lux (Romania). While keeping each market commercially autonomous was the right business move, it posed a complex branding challenge: there was no overarching corporate logic to inherit—only seven isolated local operational realities.
Mildberry operated on two levels simultaneously: group-wide strategic programs and tailored local initiatives. We created the corporate brand identity from scratch, followed by a comprehensive audit that benchmarked every acquired company’s portfolio, product range, communication strategy, and marketing team against a single global standard. From there, we established brand governance, refined growth strategies, and created new brands to fill critical portfolio gaps.
When Food Union committed over $250 million to enter the Chinese market via two greenfield production plants, Mildberry’s founder relocated to Shanghai to oversee the expansion directly—leading market entry, brand positioning, organizational design, and digital infrastructure.
The agency followed the client physically. Mildberry established a registered company in Shanghai, built an in-country team, and expanded its service scope far beyond traditional branding. Within a year, Mildberry’s Chinese operations surpassed its European business.
Food Union’s market entry was executed in clear phases. First, an established Baltic brand was introduced to build immediate credibility. Next, Food Union partnered with Bright Food—China's second-largest state-owned food and beverage enterprise—to launch ice cream pop-up shops in Shanghai shopping malls, testing authentic Latvian ice cream and capturing real-time consumer demand faster than market research ever could. Finally, bespoke brands were developed specifically for Chinese consumers.
Five years after stepping down from the board, Mildberry’s founder returned to Food Union Europe to lead strategic projects and digital transformation. He reported directly to the global CEO and had a dedicated team of nine and a ring-fenced budget. His primary mission was to modernize legacy operational models.
The cornerstone project was Fråst: merging Hjem-Is (Denmark) and Isbilen (Norway)—two door-to-door ice cream delivery businesses with €50 million in combined revenue and four decades of fixed-route logistics—and rebuilding them into a unified D2C frozen food technology platform. Mildberry spearheaded the transformation across business modeling, brand portfolio architecture, route optimization, fleet design, warehousing strategy, and digital e-commerce infrastructure.
In October 2025, global ice cream leader Froneri agreed to acquire Food Union’s entire European operation—spanning Denmark, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Romania. The Chinese cluster, built and financed independently, was excluded from the transaction.
Over thirteen years of hands-on strategic involvement, Mildberry created or completely rebuilt eleven core brands that underpinned the valuation and successful sale of Food Union’s European business.