By Holly Riddle
Photo taken by Dave DiCello Photography
Established in 1865, the Penn State Berkey Creamery is a Happy Valley institution. Ask locals for recommendations for what to do during a visit? Go to the Creamery. After every Penn State home game? You’ll find a line around the block, leading to the Creamery. Craving a taste of State College from states away? You might just order some Creamery ice cream, the blue and white carton delivered right to your door.
Our main mission is to support the teaching, research and outreach programs of the Department of Food Science.
Recently, Berkey Creamery was included in the PA Chamber of Business and Industry’s Coolest Things Made in PA bracket, which pits 64 well-known names from around the state against one another, letting the public vote on their favorite products and brands. Berkey Creamery made it to the Elite Eight before gracefully falling to Mrs. T’s Pierogies.
However, the creamery will always take top spot in our hearts — which is why we took this opportunity to catch up with Jim Brown, sales and marketing manager at the creamery, to learn more about what happens behind the scenes and how the creamery’s team makes its magic.
A phenomenal 150-plus years
“Any business, nowadays, that lasts more than 10 years is phenomenal. But for a business to last more than 150 years and continue to make positive transitions and adjust to the market — that’s pretty phenomenal,” Brown told us. “We’ve established a generational tradition with family, friends, alumni and visitors.”
The creamery technically started out in — where else? — a barn, teaching farmers and dairy manufacturers how to make better, safer products. Now, the University Park location on Curtin Road encompasses the creamery’s manufacturing, distribution, retail and e-commerce operations.
It’s estimated that the creamery’s storefront doles out about 750,000 servings of ice cream to the public each year, but the creamery is so much more than just ice cream. It manufactures approximately 125 products across 350 SKUs, all made with milk that’s sourced either from the on-campus cows (75–80%) or a local dairy, just down the road (20–25%).
Upon arriving at the creamery, the milk is distributed throughout the plant. If the milk is destined for a future as ice cream, other ingredients (like cream and sugar) are added to the milk, the mixture is pasteurized and homogenized, then it’s cooled, flavored, aerated and thickened. Finally, right before packaging, any whole ingredients, like chocolate or nuts, are added to the ice cream. Then, the packaged ice cream heads to the hardening room to freeze.
The academic side
The creamery serves a larger purpose than simply serving ice cream to the masses. There’s also an academic side to the operation, just as there was when the creamery started more than 150 years ago.
“Our main mission is to support the teaching, research and outreach programs of the Department of Food Science,” said Brown.
The creamery helps the department host its ice cream short courses, which have proved invaluable for ice cream manufacturers all across the country. It also offers learning opportunities for a vast number of students, with interns learning about every side of the business, from plant operations to sales and marketing. The creamery likewise employs students, typically over a hundred at any given time. As the creamery assists the Department of Food Science with any research needs that it may have, it also conducts its own product development research, in order to improve upon and add to its existing product line.
I would say we’re probably in the top two or three locations on campus to visit, and that hasn’t been just beneficial to us, but beneficial to the university. We’re proud — humble, but proud — to help the university and the other departments, and bring more people to campus.
A generational tradition
Over the decades, the creamery has become a destination. As Brown said, “If you’re ever on campus, you need to visit us. It’s more than just tasting the products. It’s the ambiance of the location. It’s the generational tradition; people still come here because it’s where they met, where they started out.” He recounts couples who still come to the creamery for their anniversaries, and couples who got engaged at the creamery.
“A hundred thousand people come here for a football weekend. When they go to the stadium, they’re rivals… but when they’re done, they come to the creamery and they’re all standing in line together,” he said. “The line wraps around the whole block and they’re all smiling and having fun. It can be the biggest game of the year, and when they’re done, they come here, and they’re all creamery fans.”
Brown added, “I would say we’re probably in the top two or three locations on campus to visit, and that hasn’t been just beneficial to us, but beneficial to the university. We’re proud — humble, but proud — to help the university and the other departments, and bring more people to campus.”
