Alba, Italy — This past week, Governor Kim Reynolds visited the Italian company that recently bought Le Mars-based Wells Enterprises, the makers of Blue Bunny ice cream.
Reynolds is on a two-week overseas trade mission. She posted photos online of her meeting with executives of the Ferraro Group, one of the world’s largest food manufacturers. Ferraro’s acquisition of family-owned Wells Enterprises was announced in December. The company has been a major northwest Iowa employer and, in 2004, state and local officials approved 10 million dollars worth of incentives to keep the company’s headquarters in Le Mars. In 2006, Wells opened its new 30-million dollar facility. State records indicated Wells Enterprises had about 25-hundred employees on its payroll at the time of its sale to Ferraro. Reynolds, after her meeting at the Italian company, tweeted that Iowa’s strong economy, skilled workforce, and business-friendly environment presents great opportunities.
Ferraro makes many world-popular confections including Kinder, Nutella, TicTac, Keebler, and the product most associated with their name, Ferraro Rocher, just to name a few. Not only did they recently acquire Wells Enterprises, but in 2018, they acquired Nestlé USA’s confectionary business for $2.8 billion.
