The Howling Cow is planning a new creamery just outside of Schaub Hall on Sullivan Drive.
Ice cream and other food will be on the menu at the creamery, but the real purpose of the new establishment is to contribute effectively to research and education.
With increase in demand for skim milk, N.C. State produces surplus cream; the most effective way to utilize this extra cream is by selling more ice cream.
”There is no real market for cream and skimmed milk is the very popular so increase in ice cream production is a good way to deal with surplus cream,” said Gary Cartwright, food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences pilot plant coordinator.
According to Cartwright, the University needed a place where the increased ice cream stock could be sold.
“We have to have a place to sell this new ice cream and we needed an outlet,” Cartwright said.
Cartwright said he feels the dairy enterprise system at N.C. State doesn’t need to concentrate on large volumes: it needs to produce what is necessary and make it diverse.
According to Carl Hollifield, business manager for the University’s food, bioprocessing and nutrition sciences division, the creamery will be developed in partnership University Dining.
“We want to work with them as on campus food provider, their products and our ice cream on the first floor. The second floor will be a dedicated training facility,” Hollifield said.
According to Cartwright, sole the main purpose of the new facility is education; it will promote research and development, N.C. State agriculture, the dairy industry and food safety.
“Education here is the key, and ice cream is a very powerful tool,” Cartwright said.
According to Hollifield, the creamery will be a place for the N.C. State Dairy Enterprise System to test new ideas.
“We don’t have an outlet to try new things, this will give us a good outlet to try new things in small batches,” Hollifield said.
Though the creamery will be on campus it will be open to the entire community, Cartwright said.
There is a significant budget for this project, and it will be started soon, Cartwright said.
“We have a $3.8 million construction budget; we have already raised $1 million. Once we have another million we can break ground,” Cartwright said.
Cartwright said he feels the project should start in next 10 to 12 months. There will be no funding from the government for this project, he added.
“There is no taxpayers’ money involved here, and this will continue to be a self-supporting facility,” Cartwright said. “Every single dollar made will be put back into the system to improve capability or education.”
According to Cartwright, money generated will support dairy farm operations, which will support research and development for animal science and other University departments.
“If we can improve education in bad economic times, I feel we have done something,” Cartwright said.
