King Brothers Dairy breaking into the ice cream market
NORTHUMBERLAND, N.Y. >> After more than a century in the milk business, family owned and operated farm King Brothers Dairy is breaking into the ice cream market.
King Brothers Dairy recently began making and selling its own ice cream from the local farm’s brand new farm store and ice cream parlor, which opened in May.
A total of 34 handmade hard ice cream flavors are available, along with soft serve ice cream, sundaes, milkshakes and quarts to take home.
So far, some of the popular small batch flavors are “Coffee Break,” made with coffee ice cream, fudge swirl and brownie pieces, and the unique “Bacon Buzz,” which features maple bourbon ice cream with candied bacon.
“We have some very distinctive flavors,” said co-owner Jeff King, whose personal favorite is “Just Take My Money,” salted caramel ice cream with a caramel swirl and praline pecans.
While the ice cream is a big attraction, the store also offers King Brothers Dairy milk, chocolate milk, lemonade and beef as well as merchandise from other area producers such as cheese, yogurt, pickles, pasta, honey and baked goods. Small gift items are available in the store too.
“It’s a neat place to be able to get some products that you don’t generally see in other places,” King said.
Before building the
3,000-square-foot commercial store, on the site of a former cow barn, King Brothers Dairy used a small red shed with a few coolers as its retail space. “We were selling just a handful of products,” King said.
The new store offers a better experience for customers, who can look inside the production plant and see how the ice cream is made, and where their food comes from, King said. “It’s really exciting to allow people to make that connection, and actually see and understand what we’re doing, which is normally behind the scenes.”
Beyond the roadside store, the 2,500-acre King Brothers Dairy farm is home to about 900 cows, with fields of corn, grass and alfalfa to feed them.
Since opening the farm store last month, “We’ve had a great response from our neighbors and the community,” King said.
Gansevoort resident Tammy Kirkwood, who used to shop at the small retail shed, took her son and his friend to get some ice cream at King Brothers Dairy on Wednesday after Field Day at school. It was their first time visiting the new store. “It’s really nice,” she said, predicting that they’ll be in again soon to buy products like Oscar’s Smokehouse bacon and King Brothers Dairy chocolate milk, which her son loves.
Looking ahead to the future, as the fourth generation farm becomes an agricultural destination, King’s goal is to keep up with the ice cream demand, while looking to develop new products. “We will always have new ice cream flavors. That’s one thing we are committed to,” he said.
In addition to the farm, King Brothers Dairy ice cream is now also available in some other local stores and restaurants.
Located at 311 King Rd. in Northumberland, the farm store and ice cream parlor are open yearround, with indoor and outdoor seating available. Its summer hours are seven days a week, from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday and noon to 8 p.m. on Sunday.
A grand opening celebration for the new farm store and ice cream parlor is anticipated to take place in late summer.
More information about King Brothers Dairy is available online at www.Kingbrothersdairy.com.