How the Breton Rolland family went from ice cream to Parisian hotels

As is often the case in Brittany, entrepreneurship is a family affair. Among the Rollands, four generations succeeded one another starting from a farm, in their cradle of Plouédern (29), near Brest, at the very end of the 19th century. “My grandparents were butter merchants, then they expanded their business to cream and milk. It was my father Yves who took over the reins of the company in 1964 and gave the industrial impetus by launching into ice cream in 1977, under the Flipi brand, which became the leader in private label brands. » From one of his hotel establishments, a stone’s throw from the luxurious Louis Vuitton, on the Champs Elysées, in the very chic 8th arrondissement of Paris, Lionel Rolland remains proud of this Breton history. Even if, in 2010, he moved away from Brittany a little, where he returned for the holidays.

“It feels good to go from a market where you have ten customers to a market where you have seven billion”

“Paris is a safe bet”

That year, his family made a 180-degree turnaround. After a century focused on agriculture and agri-food, the Rolland clan sold its factory to the British company R&R Ice-cream, which then employed 500 employees and had a turnover of €118 million. “A difficult decision to make at the time,” remembers Lionel. Concern was high in the region. Since then, in the wake of capitalist movements, the company has become Froneri and investments have fortunately multiplied, which delights the entrepreneur, now focused on three and four star hotels in Paris.

His sister Nelly, with whom he shares co-management of Great Hotels Paris (GHP), is a pioneer. “She studied hotel management and started, alone, with a hotel in Paris. » The rest of the family was convinced. Why this choice of the French capital? “Because Paris has no seasonality and Paris will always be Paris,” smiles Lionel Rolland. It’s a safe bet. »

GHP employs 180 people for a turnover of €37 million. With one acquisition per year, on average, it currently owns twelve businesses. It can also count on the start-up Doyield, created in 2019 in digital marketing. Another of his companies manages around thirty hotels for investors. Without nostalgia for ice cream? “It feels good to go from a market where you have ten customers (mass distribution, Editor’s note) to a market where you have seven billion,” smiles Lionel Rolland.