Popular NC State Ice Cream Now Available in Cary Stores
Story originally appeared on FoodCary.
Cary, NC – For close to 70 years, North Carolina State University’s Howling Cow ice cream has been popular, but available in limited locations. Now, shoppers in Cary will be able to buy the local brand in their own grocery stores as Harris Teeter now carries Howling Cow.
Popular Product Now in Stores
Howling Cow, the brand for ice cream and milk made at NC State’s Department of Food, Bioprocessing and Nutrition Science’s Feldmeier Dairy Processing Lab, has been available to students and faculty in stores on the university’s campus. Triangle shoppers had no other way to get the products other than the annual state fair.
“We had been getting lots of feedback. People said it was tough to get on campus just to get the ice cream,” said Carl Hollifield, assistant director – business operations for Howling Cow. “We reached out to friends in grocery stores and retail. This has been around a year in the work.”
In the end, Harris Teeter wanted to work with Howling Cow and NC State, and the grocery chain now has a license with the university to carry the popular product.
“It’s a standard, old school recipe we’ve been using for years and years. I’m not going to say it’s better than other ice cream but it’s different,” Hollifield said. “We use pure granulated cane sugar, instead of corn syrup or sugar solids. Our ice cream is also 14 percent butterfat, which is fairly high and is considered ‘premium ice cream.'”
Hollifield said part of the popularity also comes from nostalgia and the connection to NC State.
“People remember going to school here and getting the ice cream,” Hollifield said. “It has a sense of place.”
And as Howling Cow moves to Harris Teeters around Cary and the Triangle, Hollifield said they will try to keep everything the same and not make changes to what has worked so far.
To read the full story, go to FoodCary.com
Story by Michael Papich. Photos courtesy of Howling Cow.
