The average American eats roughly 4 gallons of ice cream each year. Recently, consumers have gravitated more toward private labels versus larger brands – a sales trend celebrated by local dairy farmers and ice cream makers. This may be because small-batch artisans have more flexibility to experiment with palate-pleasing flavors. And Tennessee ice cream producers are benefitting from the trend.
Shop Springs Creamery
You’ll find Shop Springs Creamery, nestled between Lebanon and Watertown, uses interesting flavors to bring in new and returning customers. Owners and operators Jeffrey and Elizabeth Turner each grew up on dairy farms, but Jeffrey says his wife had the idea to launch a homemade ice cream line.
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“I wanted to bottle our milk so we could sell more directly to consumers, but Elizabeth recognized the potential of adding ice cream to our farm store, as well as making it for wholesale,” Jeffrey says.
The Cherry on Top
Not only was the profit margin of ice cream greater, but it helped the Turners’ sales rise overall. Customers are willing to drive to Shop Springs Creamery, about 4 miles off the interstate, for ice cream and then pick up a few more farm-fresh goods.
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“Once in the door of the creamery, people also buy our other Wilson County-produced products like milk, eggs, pork, beef, lamb, goat and honey,” Elizabeth says.
The Turners say their cow’s milk differs from store-bought milk because it’s non-homogenized and vat pasteurized. Still, the 14% premium ice cream base is the star ingredient.
“We churn slowly to curb air from getting into the product, so our ice cream stays smooth and thick,” Jeffrey says of the 5-gallon batch process.
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Shop Springs Creamery rotates 20 flavors like Maple Bourbon Pecan, Mackinac Island Fudge, Peach, Salted Caramel and Dark Chocolate Chunk.
Dairy farmers to the core, 90% of the Turners’ milk goes to Dairy Farmers of America, with just 10% toward the creamery. That means ice cream is truly the icing on the cake (or mud pie).
Hattie Jane’s Creamery
Claire Crowell started her career selling Southern delicacies as a tween at her father’s company, Puckett’s Grocery in Leiper’s Fork. Today, the mother of two scoops up nostalgia as the Founder and CEO of Hattie Jane’s Creamery, named in honor of her eldest daughter.
“We wanted to create a brand that embodied traditional Southern roots while stretching the boundaries with modern taste profiles,” Crowell says of Hattie Jane’s custard-style ice cream.
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Hattie Jane’s partners exclusively with Sunrise Dairy, a multigenerational farm in Crossville led by Tim Mast, to source and pasteurize milk and cream.
Tennessee Ice Cream From Cow to Cone
Once the proprietary ice cream base is made, Hattie Jane’s whips in locally sourced ingredients like herbs, bacon, seasonal produce, and even brewed or distilled libations. The taste of Tennessee comes through in 20 flavors, like Sweet Corn & Blackberry Jam, Strawberries & Cream, Lavender & Wildflower Honey, and Goo Goo & Jack, a spiked Nashville classic featuring the iconic candy, fudge, caramel and Jack Daniel’s No. 7.
“Our Banana Pudding ice cream is a favorite,” Crowell says, which isn’t a surprise considering Centerville hosts the National Banana Pudding Festival. “But the Cookie Jar Supreme flavor is our top seller. It’s bursting with homemade cookies, Oreos and brownies.”
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“By the end of the year, we will have gone through 13,400 gallons of ice cream mix sourced from Sunrise Dairy, and about 2,000 gallons of local milk used for milkshakes from Hatcher Family Dairy and MTSU Dairy.”
Hattie Jane’s also offers non-dairy options, like Strawberry Coconut made with coconut milk.
The Scoop on Pasteurization
The fat in non-homogenized milk separates from the milk instead of being evenly distributed like in homogenized milk. Vat pasteurization heats the milk for a longer period of time than other methods and cools it rapidly. This method kills harmful bacteria but preserving some bacteria and enzymes that contribute to a creamy taste and have added health benefits.
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