Sven Hennig-Olsen went to Chicago as a young man, where he learned to make ice cream like the professionals in the United States. When Sven returned to Kristiansand in 1924, he brought equipment for making ice cream, a book full of recipes and great ambitions.

In August of the same year, he opened a shop in Markens gate 29, and started making ice cream in the basement. Ice cream should contain plenty of cream, egg yolk and natural fruits and berries. Sven was certain that high quality ingredients would produce high quality ice cream!

When Hennig-Olsen Is was established, ice cream was a seasonal treat consumed in the summer months. However, when Otto Hennig-Olsen took over the family business in the late 1950's, he had bigger visions. Otto wanted to sell ice cream throughout the whole year. Over time it became more common to own a freezer, and the demand for ice cream increased.

The factory opened in 1960, down by the seafront in Hannevika, just outside of Kristiansand. It did not take many years before expansions and improvements were planned. Otto’s ambition was to be more than a local ice cream supplier – he wanted to sell ice cream to all of Norway. Thus, Hennig-Olsen Is established a distribution network and found loyal partners in several parts of the country. In a competitive market, being a family-owned business was an advantage; Decisions could be made quickly and new ideas could be realised in a short period of time.

In the 1980s, there were many small and medium-sized ice cream factories in Norway. In Hannevika, Hennig-Olsen Is produced ice cream at full speed and ate its way into the national ice cream market.

In the struggle to survive in the ice cream market, the main allies were the customers. It was crucial to always produce the best ice cream and develop new ice cream products that would appeal to the customers. In the middle of 1990s, two major ice cream producers remain in the Norwegian market. One of them is Hennig-Olsen Is, which continue to gain market shares.

The emergence of major supermarket chains in the 1980s helped to consolidate the success. Through an agreement with the wholesale and retail company NorgesGruppen, Hennig-Olsen Is secured nationwide distribution of its ice cream in 1993.

It was time for the third generation to step up. I 1996 Paal Hennig-Olsen took over as CEO, while his younger brother Espen started working with branding. The time was right to professionalise and modernise the organisation. Still, the third generation had the same ambitions of delivering high quality products. In 1996, we established the slogan “Crème de la Crème of ice cream”, expressing the flavour and quality we constantly strive towards.

Today, Hennig-Olsen Is is a modern ice cream factory – still located in Hannevika. We produce almost 30 million litres of ice cream and frozen desserts a year, in addition to our own chocolate, caramel, almond brittle and jam. Every day we pursue new innovations and ice cream successes, while ensuring that lovers of our traditional ice cream bars such as «Kroneis» and «Båtis» get the highest quality ice cream.

As a tribute to the people's classic through many decades, we made the world's largest «Kroneis» in 2015. We will continue to challenge and push borders in the years to come. Our secret recipes will always form the basis for most of our production. The rest is passionate craftsmanship, dedication and an unstoppable pursuit of excellence.