Edy's Pie Explained

Edy's Pie
Type:Ice cream bar
Currentowner:Froneri
Origin:United States
Introduced:1921
Markets:United States, International

Edy's Pie (formerly known as Eskimo Pie) is an American brand of chocolate-covered vanilla ice cream bar wrapped in foil. It was the first such dessert sold in the United States. It is marketed by Dreyer's, a division of Froneri.

In wake of the 2020-2021 George Floyd protests, the name was changed to Edy's Pie, in recognition of Dreyer's co-founder, candy maker Joseph Edy.[1] The former name used the term Eskimo, a term considered offensive by some for American Inuit, Yupik, and Aleut peoples.[2]

History

Danish immigrant Christian Kent Nelson, a schoolteacher and candy store owner, claimed to have received the inspiration for the Eskimo Pie in 1920 in Onawa, Iowa, when a boy in his store was unable to decide whether to spend his money on ice cream or a chocolate bar.[3] After experimenting with different ways to adhere melted chocolate to bricks of ice cream, Nelson began selling his invention, under the name I-Scream Bars. In 1921, he filed for a patent, and secured an agreement with local chocolate producer Russell C. Stover to mass-produce them under the new trademarked name "Eskimo Pie" (a name suggested by his wife, Clara Stover), and to create the Eskimo Pie Corporation.[4] After was issued on January 24, 1922, Nelson franchised the product, allowing ice cream manufacturers to produce them under that name. The patent, which applied to any type of frozen confection encased in candy, was invalidated in 1928.[5]

Stover sold his share of the business. He then formed the well-known chocolate manufacturer Russell Stover Candies.[6] Nelson became independently wealthy off the royalties from the sale of Eskimo Pies. In 1922, he was selling one million pies a day.[5]

Nelson then sold his share of the business to the United States Foil Company, which made the Eskimo Pie wrappers. He retired at a young age, but reportedly out of boredom rejoined what was then called Reynolds Metals Company (now part of Alcoa) in 1935, inventing new methods of manufacturing and shipping Eskimo Pies and serving as an executive until his ultimate retirement in 1961.

In 1992, Nelson died at the age of 99. In that same year, Eskimo Pie Corporation was spun off from Reynolds in an initial public offering, as an alternative to an acquisition that Nestlé had proposed in 1991.

The original round-faced child icon for the brand was created by the illustrator Gyo Fujikawa.[7]

CoolBrands International, a Markham, Ontario-based company, acquired Eskimo Pie Corporation in 2000. Originally a yogurt maker, CoolBrands at one point owned or held exclusive long-term licenses for brands including Eskimo Pie, Chipwich, Weight Watchers, Godiva, Tropicana, Betty Crocker, Trix, Yoo-hoo and Welch's. The company encountered financial difficulties after losing its Weight Watchers/Smart Ones license in 2004.[8] By 2007, it was selling off core assets and in February 2007 it sold Eskimo Pie and Chipwich to the Dreyer's division of Nestlé.[9] [10]

In 2020, Dreyer's announced that they would change the former brand name to "Edy’s Pie" in 2021.[11] [12] The Edy's name is a nod to candy maker Joseph Edy, one of the founders of Dreyer's.

In France

In June 1924, the "Esquimaux-Brick" company was founded in Paris.[13] It quickly expanded its production to other European countries, in particular to Italy and Hungary. The company produced "Esquimaux Bricks" which, as the name says, did not yet have a stick. The rights for Esquimaux brand were registered in France in 1928.[14] The "Esquimaux Ch. Gervais" were marketed the same year by Gervais, a French cheese producer.[15] In 1931, Gervais bought the Société Esquimaux-Brick, which was dissolved.[16] The trademark was filed by Gervais. It was renamed to "Kim" ("Kim Eskimo" or "Kim cone") during the years 1990–2000, as due to its wide use it was recognized as a generic name.[17]

In other countries

In South Australia, the Alaska Ice Cream company licensed the Eskimo Pie name and manufacturing process in 1923.[18]

In the countries of the former Soviet Union as well as in France the word "Eskimo" is used as a generic name, not a trademark, for chocolate-covered ice cream with a wooden stick to handle it.

In the Czech Republic, "Eskymo" is a brand of Eskimo Pie-style ice cream produced (as of 2020) by Unilever under its Algida brand.[19] While the word "Eskymo" can be used as a generic term in some regions of the country, the most common word for a chocolate-covered bar of ice-cream with a stick handle is "Nanuk" (in reference to the 1922 film Nanook of the North).

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Eskimo Pie to become Edy's Pie in 2021. 2021-10-24. Food Dive. en-US. 10 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210210183544/https://www.fooddive.com/news/eskimo-pie-to-become-edys-pie-in-2021/586338/. live.
  2. Web site: Inuit or Eskimo: Which name to use? Alaska Native Language Center. 2021-10-25. www.uaf.edu. 30 December 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221230133641/https://uaf.edu/anlc/research-and-resources/resources/resources/inuit_or_eskimo.php. live.
  3. Web site: James T. Ehler . Christian Kent Nelson: Who's Who in Food History . Foodreference.com . 1992-03-08 . 2013-07-20 . 18 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144527/http://www.foodreference.com/html/wchristiankentnelson.html . live .
  4. Web site: Eschner . Kat . The Weird, Brief History of the Eskimo Pie Corporation . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20180718144601/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/weird-short-history-eskimo-pie-corporation-180961840/ . 18 July 2018 . 2023-04-24 . Smithsonian Magazine . en.
  5. Web site: Duan. Charles. Ice Cream Patent Headache. Slate. 26 October 2017. 20 October 2015. 18 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180718151049/http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2015/10/what_the_history_of_eskimo_pies_says_about_software_patents_today.html. live.
  6. Web site: History of Russell Stover Candies Inc. – FundingUniverse . Fundinguniverse.com . 2013-07-20 . 4 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120304135523/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Russell-Stover-Candies-Inc-Company-History.html . live .
  7. Web site: Eskimo Pie Day. 2020-10-07. CooksInfo. en-US. 25 November 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201125222509/https://www.cooksinfo.com/eskimo-pie-day. live.
  8. News: CoolBrands sells Eskimo Pie, Chipwich brands to Dreyer's . CBC News . 2007-01-24 . 2014-07-28 . 24 September 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150924154037/http://www.cbc.ca/news/business/coolbrands-sells-eskimo-pie-chipwich-brands-to-dreyer-s-1.665119 . live .
  9. Web site: CoolBrands press release announcing sale of Eskimo Pie and Chipwich . 2007-05-11 . https://web.archive.org/web/20070517043126/http://www.flexnews.com/console/PageViewer.aspx?page=6833&str= . 2007-05-17 . dead .
  10. Web site: History of Eskimo Pie Corporation – FundingUniverse . Fundinguniverse.com . 2013-07-20 . 4 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120304105714/http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Eskimo-Pie-Corporation-Company-History.html . live .
  11. Web site: 2020-06-19 . Acknowledging derogatory term, Eskimo Pie owner says to change ice cream's name . 2020-06-19 . . 20 June 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200620073706/https://www.reuters.com/article/dreyers-eskimopie/acknowledging-derogatory-term-eskimo-pie-owner-says-to-change-ice-creams-name-idUSL8N2DW52K . live .
  12. News: Poinski. Megan. October 2, 2020. Eskimo Pie to become Edy's Pie in 2021. Food Dive. Industry Dive. February 11, 2021. 10 February 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210210183544/https://www.fooddive.com/news/eskimo-pie-to-become-edys-pie-in-2021/586338/. live.
  13. Web site: fr . Part de Fondateur: Scriponet . 8 March 2020 . 31 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200731005934/http://www.scriponet.com/salle.php?idP=4402&idR=420900 . live .
  14. Web site: Bâtonnet de crème glacée . Office québécois de la langue française . fr . 2011-06-21 . 2020-03-08 . 31 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200731005733/http://www.oqlf.gouv.qc.ca/ressources/bibliotheque/dictionnaires/terminologie_glaces/fiches/batonnet_de_creme_glacee.html . live .
  15. Web site: Histoire de Nestle en France . Nestle . fr . 2020-03-08 . 16 February 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130216010401/http://www.nestle.fr/nestleenfrance/histoire%20de%20nestle%20en%20france . dead .
  16. Web site: Etablissements Esquimaux Brick . it . Archivio Centrale dello Stato . 2020-03-08 . 12 September 2017 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170912234126/http://dati.acs.beniculturali.it/oad/uodMarchi/MR026722 . dead .
  17. Web site: Masson. Delphine. 30 June 2000. Ces marques victimes de leur succès. These brands are victims of their success. dead. https://web.archive.org/web/20070312043940/http://www.strategies.fr/archives/1153/115305601/enquete_ces_marques_victimes_de_leur_succes.html. 12 March 2007. 23 September 2020. strategies.fr. fr.
  18. News: Alaska Ice Cream Company. 29 August 1923. The Register. 12 May 2015. National Library of Australia. Adelaide. 7. 24 April 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230424163230/https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/64311976. live.
  19. Web site: cs . Seriál o zmrzlině: Česká klasika . 20 June 2020 . 28 July 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200728170616/https://www.vitalia.cz/clanky/serial-o-zmrzline-ceska-klasika/ . live .

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