On Thursday 11 April 2002 in Poreč, an agreement was signed by which Podravka d.d., the largest food company based in Central and Eastern Europe, took over Ital-Ice d.o.o., a company with its headquarters in Poreč. The agreement was signed by Aldo Knapić, the founder and owner of Ital-Ice d.o.o. and Darko Marinac, President of the Management Board of Podravka d.d.

Ital-Ice was founded in 1991 by Aldo Knapić. Together with his family, Aldo Knapić set up a renowned company dealing with the production of ice-cream, frozen cakes and other desserts. Ital-Ice is also the exclusive importer and distributor of the Orogel programme of frozen products, as well as the distributor of products by Delifarm. It is also the exclusive distributor for Istria and the North Adriatic of the Eskimo ice-cream brand owned by Unilever, and produces several types of ice-cream under the Eskimo brand. Ital-Ice has about 50 permanent employees, but during the summer season takes on additional part-time staff.

In terms of its market strategy, Podravka has opted for further expansion into new, fast-growing areas such as the frozen food segment. To achieve these strategic goals as quickly and as simply as possible, it has chosen a partner – Ital-Ice d.o.o. based in Poreč. Already within Podravka, there are strategic business units whose production range is suitable for further expansion into the frozen food segment, such as Fruit and Vegetables, the Desserts Programme which includes brands such as Lino and Dolcela, the Danica Meat Industry, and Mills and Bakery.