One of the best things to experience at NC State is the Howling Cow ice cream. It is richer, thicker and better than your typical store-bought ice cream.
But, it’s a shame that a lot of people outside of NC State are not able to experience it. The only way to obtain the Howling Cow ice cream is it buy it directly at NC State or at the North Carolina State Fair.
To circumvent this issue, NC State should franchise Howling Cow and sell it to stores across North Carolina. By selling Howling Cow ice cream across North Carolina, the university can provide educational opportunities to those majoring in agriculture and business, but it can also provide another source of revenue for NC State.
NC State is renowned for its agriculture program. In fact, it is one of the few colleges to have its own dairy farm. Besides producing the beloved Howling Cow ice cream, the farm is also used to teach students and conduct research concerning various fields in agriculture.
If NC State were to franchise the Howling Cow ice cream, it could provide students with an opportunity to learn more about mass food production in the United States. Although it is likely students in agricultural studies learn about food production in class, by mass-producing Howling Cow ice cream, it could provide a work-study program for students, making them more prepared in that job sector.
Furthermore, by allowing students to participate in mass food production, it can encourage students to conduct research surrounding food production. Certain research topics may include how to produce food efficiently and effectively, how to ensure the highest quality of ice cream, and how to reduce waste overall during production. These potential topics could help the food production process produce high-quality goods efficiently and produce less waste as a result.
Franchising Howling Cow ice cream can provide more educational opportunities to students majoring in business as well.
For example, franchising Howling Cow ice cream can allow students to learn and experience how to pitch products to stores like Harris Teeter and Target, and how to market it to consumers. This could allow those majoring in communications to create a successful pitch to investors and consumers on what makes Howling Cow ice cream special and why it is better to other brands, thereby providing experience for students and making them more prepared in the workforce.
In addition, franchising Howling Cow ice cream can provide students with insight on research and development. Like most companies, Howling Cow will need new flavors in order to compete with other brands. Not only could this allow Howling Cow to sell more flavors of ice cream, but it will give students an idea on how to create products that are catered to consumers.
Finally, selling Howling Cow ice cream outside of campus can provide another source of revenue.
It is common knowledge that NC State makes a lot of money from selling merchandise based on its sports teams. But we are missing a huge opportunity on how much money NC State could make by franchising Howling Cow ice cream.
To put it in perspective, Ben and Jerry’s made around 1.2 billion dollars in 2015. Realistically speaking, Howling Cow won’t nearly make as much money compared to Ben and Jerry’s, but it gives people an idea on how much money NC State could make by selling Howling Cow ice cream across North Carolina.
Plus, with the revenue made from selling Howling Cow ice cream, the money could be used to create and grow various programs within NC State.
Overall, NC State should franchise Howling Cow ice cream across North Carolina. Not only could it provide educational experiences for students majoring in agriculture and business, but it can also provide another source of revenue that can be used to fund various programs across NC State. Howling Cow ice cream is a delicious treat that everyone in North Carolina should experience, and it is a shame that many people haven’t heard of it. It is time to solve this dilemma and franchise Howling Cow ice cream.