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The ice industry is heating up in Southern California.


Union Ice Co., of Vernon, has begun expanding operations after being acquired earlier this month by Arctic Glacier Inc., a Winnipeg, Canada, company that began rolling up California ice makers last year.


Union Ice has a manufacturing plant in Vernon and another in Van Nuys, which produce block and bagged ice.


The Van Nuys plant is the premier supplier of ice to the entertainment industry. It is the largest West Coast producer of 300-pound blocks of ice, which are fed into machines that crush it into icy powder and blow it out to create snow scenes.


Arctic Glacier is the operating subsidiary of Arctic Glacier Income Fund, one of only two publicly-traded ice companies in North America. It has acquired 63 ice companies in the United States and Canada since it began operations in 1996, including six companies last year in California alone.


This push reflects an industry-wide consolidation, led by Arctic Glacier, which seeks to capitalize on the warmer U.S. market amid growing globalization of the ice market, said Jane McEwen, executive director of the International Packaged Ice Association.


“It’s a large industry in the U.S. not only because we have some warmer states but because we have so many more people,” she said. “North Americans love their ice.”


Arctic Glacier, which projects annual sales this year of $250 million, is planning a big expansion for Union Ice. The Vernon facility, which can produce 450 tons of ice per day, is being upgraded to a 650-ton capacity. The ice factory has begun receiving its new ice-making equipment and will install it over the next few weeks.


“Arctic has already committed a substantial amount of capital to increasing our capacity and our operations,” said Brett Willberg, president of Union Ice before the acquisition and now a Union Ice regional manager.


The company will retain the Union Ice name and all 48 employees. Willberg said the company will hire additional employees to accommodate the increased production capacity.


With annual revenues of about $10 million, Union Ice’s largest clients include Dodger Stadium, the Rose Bowl and Sam’s Club warehouse stores.

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