DC Foods, parent company of premium frozen dessert brand Island Way, has appointed Matt Close to its board of directors, tapping the former Unilever Global Ice Cream President to guide strategy as the company accelerates retail expansion and pushes into new markets.
The Appointment
Close spent 32 years at Unilever, rising to President of Global Ice Cream — a role that placed him in command of one of the world's largest branded ice cream portfolios, spanning marketing, general management and category leadership across multiple international markets. He currently serves as a Senior Advisor to Blantyre Capital. The board seat brings institutional-scale category expertise to a challenger brand that has, until now, grown largely through distribution gains and product differentiation.
Growth by the Numbers
The timing is significant. Island Way expects to be stocked in more than 15,000 retail locations by summer 2026, a figure that represents a tripling of its on-shelf footprint. Over the past year alone, the brand has added more than 3,000 new store doors and secured exclusive product launches with Sam's Club and Target — two of the highest-traffic mass and warehouse-club retailers in the United States. The company is also projecting meaningful revenue growth domestically alongside continued expansion into Canada and other international markets, though it has not disclosed specific revenue targets. Island Way was named to Bain & Company's 2026 Insurgent Brands List, a designation that tracks emerging consumer packaged goods companies outpacing incumbents in their respective categories.
David Peters, Chief Executive Officer of DC Foods and Island Way, said Close's grasp of consumer trends and brand-building at scale would be critical as the business pursues its next phase. "His deep understanding of consumer trends, brand building, innovation and category growth will be invaluable as we continue to scale the business," Peters said.
What It Means for the Frozen Dessert Market
The frozen dessert category has grown increasingly competitive, with premium and better-for-you entrants chipping away at legacy brand share. Island Way's fruit-shell format — handcrafted products served inside real fruit — occupies a niche between novelty and premium indulgence that has proven attractive to specialty and mainstream retailers alike. Close's background in scaling similar propositions globally gives DC Foods access to playbooks developed at a company that has navigated comparable premiumisation trends across dozens of markets.
For retailers and foodservice operators tracking the frozen dessert shelf, the board addition signals DC Foods intends to invest further in marketing infrastructure and innovation rather than relying solely on distribution velocity. Challenger brands at the 15,000-door threshold typically face margin pressure and shelving competition that requires exactly the kind of category-management experience Close accumulated at Unilever.
The appointment also reflects a broader pattern in the food and beverage industry, where emerging brands with differentiated formats are recruiting senior alumni from multinational consumer goods companies to lend credibility and operational depth ahead of potential fundraising or strategic partnership discussions. DC Foods has not commented on any such plans.
For ongoing coverage of board-level moves and executive appointments shaping the frozen and refrigerated segment, see our retail and grocery industry coverage and analysis of emerging brands gaining mass-retail distribution.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
