The Iowa State University Creamery staff have worked behind the scenes to meet the demand that the new school year brings.
“There were a lot of welcome back parties on campus, so we are actually kind of low on some supplies right now,” Danielle Christofferson, the Creamery’s production manager and interim business manager, said. “We’re making a lot of cups right now.”
Employees at the Creamery are responsible for packaging, mixing and flavoring ingredients, cleaning the equipment and freezing the mixes, in addition to working in the retail store. The employees mix ice cream three weeks per month and produce up to 800 pounds per week to keep up with the demand, according to Christofferson.
Christofferson said that the demand for ice cream is much higher during the summer and fall months and will slow down significantly during the winter.
“When it’s too cold, we will close the store because from a business perspective, it doesn’t make sense to have staff in the store,” Christofferson said. “We will also be closed on Saturdays.”
Christofferson said that her favorite menu item is “Lunar Lavender,” which is lavender-flavored ice cream with honey swirls.
Christina Jackson, a senior in culinary food science, said that her favorite flavor is “ChampionCHIP Kyven Dough,” which features dulce de leche ice cream with chocolate chip cookie dough and caramel swirls. The flavor is named after Kyven Gadson, a former Iowa State wrestler, who said, “I just want some ice cream,” after winning an NCAA Championship match to an ESPN interviewer.
“Kyven has come in multiple times to pick up ChampionCHIP Kyven Dough to give to ISU Foundation donors,” Jackson said. “He came in over the summer and filmed a video with me to help promote the Creamery. He’s a regular.”
Other popular ice cream flavors include “Forever True,” which is chocolate custard with peanut butter swirls and cups and “Human Sci Sweet Cherry Pie,” which is sweet corn flavored custard with cherry swirls and graham cracker crust.
Hannah Foster, the interim production manager, worked at the Creamery as a student and became a full-time employee after graduation.
“My family has a dairy farm and milk trucking business, so I wanted to see more of a farm-to-food kind of process, and ice cream is fun,” Foster said.
Foster said that she will continue to work at the Creamery until December, when the shop’s business manager, Sarah Canova, returns from maternity leave.
“They texted me saying they needed someone to come back,” Foster said. “Who wouldn’t want to come back and make ice cream?”
Christofferson said one of the most rewarding things about her job is the opportunity to work with students.
“It’s awesome working with the students, no matter how difficult they may be,” Christofferson said. “It’s fun helping them become more adult-like and gain skills that they’ll need in the workforce.”
Jackson has worked at the Creamery for two and a half years and said that the best part about her job is the people.
“I come and hang out here when I’m not working because the people here are so fantastic,” Jackson said. “It’s like a little family.”
Jackson said that the work environment is chaotic in a positive way.
“We all yell when something goes wrong, and it’s a lot of fun,” Jackson said. “I wouldn’t want to yell with anybody else.”
Although Jackson’s experience at the Creamery has been positive, there are occasionally bad days.
“Over the summer, we had to throw away 200 pounds of ice cream mix because of something that was happening in the water,” Jackson said. “That really sucked because we were out of a popular flavor for two months.”
Foster said working in the Creamery’s production plant can be occasionally grueling.
“We’re standing on concrete for eight hours, and it can get really hot in the production plant,” Foster said. “There’s a plant next to us and they’re wonderful and super helpful, but they do some projects that might be a little stinky.”
Christofferson said that helping students balance their class and work schedules can be a challenge.
“They’re young, so there are some growing pains,” Christofferson said. “A lot of students are freshmen or are working their first job, so they sometimes struggle and bite off more than they could chew, but we’ve always managed.”
Students who work at the Creamery do not have to be a food science or culinary major.
“I graduated with a French degree and now I’m back,” Christofferson said. “We have people in public relations, meteorology and English as well.”
Christofferson said that the Creamery is always looking to hire, especially at the start of a new semester, due to students’ schedule changes.
Find more information about the Creamery through their website.
