USU’s Dairy lab to shut down for winter – Aggie Creamery to carry on as usual

The Gary H. Richardson Dairy Products Laboratory at Utah State University will be closed starting Dec. 1 through March 4, 2019 in order to make renovations in accordance with FDA regulations. Due to the shutdown of the lab, the Aggie Creamery will be stocking up on supplies to keep the store stocked with ice cream.

Janae Young, who works at the creamery, said multiple customers came in concerned that the whole creamery is closing for the winter.

While no new ice cream will be produced during this time, the Aggie Creamery will remain open and continue to conduct business as usual. The store will only be closed for holidays—Nov. 21-25 for Thanksgiving and Dec. 21 through Jan. 1, 2019 over USU’s winter break.

In a statement, manager Dave Irish said the creamery has added “additional freezer capacity” which will allow them to continue to make Aggie Ice Cream available until the production laboratory reopens in the spring.

Creamery assistant manager Kayla Howard is also confident that supplies will last. She said the production laboratory decided how much ice cream to produce based on last year’s consumption for the months of the expected shutdown, with an additional percentage just in case.

The downside, Howard said, is that once a particular flavor runs out, the creamery won’t be able to restock until the facility reopens. To compensate, the laboratory is producing vast quantities of its most popular flavors. “We won’t run out of blue mint, that’s for sure,” she said.

Typically, the laboratory hosts a Dairy Technology and Processing course where students can observe ice-cream making firsthand. This semester, students will do all of their laboratory work before December to ensure the closure will not impact coursework.

Howard said that although grocery stores are purchasing more ice cream than normal in anticipation of the shutdown, the creamery will continue to sell to stores even after the lab closes.

annie.faerber@aggiemail.usu