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The university's College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is in the early stages of developing an on-campus, student-run creamery, university officials said.
UDairy Creamery efforts began last semester, said Katy O'Connell, the communications manager for CANR speaking on behalf of the project's committee. The committee is composed of faculty and staff at the university.
"The creamery will be a student-centered, faculty-supported enterprise," O'Connell said.
CANR has a 350-acre complex on South Campus, she said, which includes the UD Dairy, a fully functional dairy with a herd of approximately 100 Holstein cows.
This fall, milk from the university's cows was shipped to Kilby Cream in Rising Sun, Md., where it was made into ice cream, O'Connell said. Kilby Cream has made ice cream since 2005, using its own mix and milk from the Cecil County dairy.
She said the Kilby family, as well as Hy-Point Dairy Farms Inc., in Wilmington, has offered assistance for the project. Hy-Point Dairy is owned by Jay Meany, a university alumnus.
So far, the university had made four flavors - vanilla; True Blue, vanilla with a blueberry swirl; Minty Moo, mint chocolate chip; and Pretzel Fudge Swirl, vanilla with chocolate-covered pretzel bites.
"The response has been positive," O'Connell said. "We certainly anticipate adjustments and changes as the project moves forward and we strive toward making a premium ice cream."
Kalmia Kniel, an assistant professor in the CANR who teaches food parasitology and virology, said sensory tests for the flavors have been conducted to see how the ice cream compares with other brands.
"I know the ones at UD came out very highly," Kniel said.
So far, the ice cream has been served at CANR events, including Homecoming, holiday events, student club events, agriculture workshops and open houses, O'Connell said. It has also been provided to Trabant University Center's Vita Nova restaurant, and will be featured in upcoming spring events like Decision Days and Ag Day.
This year, CANR received funding support from the UNIDEL Foundation to purchase necessary equipment to make ice cream on campus, she said. The UDairy Creamery's committee hopes to purchase equipment and install the creamery on South Campus later this year.
Junior Marissa Gilinsky said the creamery may be built between the new wetlands and the UD Dairy.
"Right where you're walking over the bridge to go to the football games," Gilinsky said. "It would be in that open field to the left."
The creamery, when completed, will be used as a tool to educate students, O'Connell said.
"It is anticipated that courses including, but not limited to, animal and food sciences, food and resource economics, engineering and entrepreneurship will utilize the creamery for teaching undergraduate and graduate students," she said.
Kniel said while right now the university is piecing together how everything will work out, students will take the reins of the creamery.
"What will be in the future, we hope, is that students will really be the ones who make the ice cream, come up with the creations for the flavors and do the selling," she said. "It's going to be a very student-run program."
Gilinsky said she expects students from different majors at the university to be involved in running the facility. Business students may be able to focus on the managerial aspect of the creamery. Food science majors would get hands-on experience making the ice cream.
She said goods CANR faculty and students produce often go unnoticed on campus. The farm at the university is fully functional and also produces milk, meat, wool and crops. She said making ice cream might show what skills CANR has at its disposal.
The committee also plans to open a store selling university ice cream. Other products made by CANR, including blankets made from wool from university sheep, vegetables grown in student gardens and honey from the university's apiary, could be sold, O'Connell said.
"While nothing has been solidified about distribution to the entire campus and beyond, both ideas are being considered," she said.
Kniel said she expects the ice cream to at least be available throughout campus, including the food courts in Perkins Student Center and Trabant.
She said the idea of an on-campus creamery has been around for a few years. The recent creamery activity is partially due to university President Patrick Harker's Path to Prominence.
"I think the biggest thing is that it's sort of coming to fruition now because of President Harker and his initiative," Kniel said. "Then we have our new milking parlor, and the support within the university for this has really been great. Everything has come together right now."
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