MANHEIM, Pa. — Kreider Farms has brought back one of its most beloved ice cream flavors for this holiday season. FOX43's photojournalist Kasey Elliott went behind the scenes to look at how the Lancaster farm makes the frozen treat.
Kreider Farm's ice cream is made with milk from its dairy farm, which has up to 1,900 cows all owned by the farm. The staff milks the cows up to three times a day, which then is brought up to the facility for ice cream preparation.
The milk is then pasteurized in the facility, which includes tanks where the ice cream mix is flavored depending on what flavor they are creating. Once flavored, staff can add the inclusions or ripples to the ice cream.
Then, staff members catch the ice cream in their respective containers to be frozen and ready to sell to customers.
Craig Espenshade is the site manager at Kreider Farms milk plant. He explains that the ice cream is fresh and there are minimal steps between the cows and the ice cream being put on the shelves.
"Most of the milk that ends up in our bottles was in a cow just a couple of days ago. It'll be on your shelf less than a day later," said Espenshade. "It's only a couple steps from cow to carton. Those cartons were filled by hand, which just really shows you the time and dedication that our ice cream department has to get that quality product out."
This year's holiday flavors include the popular "Peppermint Stick," which is peppermint ice cream with colorful holiday peppermint candies. Kreider Farms also sells the limited-edition "Maple Praline Pecan" flavor, consisting of a maple-flavored ice cream with praline pecans mixed in.
The family-run company will be celebrating 90 years of business in 2025. The farm also sells eggs, milk, lemonade, tea, juices and gardening mixes which can all be found on their website.
A full list of Kreider Farm's ice cream flavors can be found on this page to satisfy all of your sweet tooth needs.