Gifford’s Ice Cream Wins Honors at 2017 World Dairy Expo

Old Fashioned Vanilla and Orange Sherbet Win First Place in their Categories; Company Prepares to Wrap Up Ice Cream Stand Season in Maine by end of October  

SKOWHEGAN, MAINE — October 3, 2017 — Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream, announced today that its Old Fashioned Vanilla and Orange Sherbet swept first place in their categories at the World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Products Contest, the leading dairy and ice cream competition in North America. The company will be honored at the World Dairy Expo in Madison, Wis. on Oct. 3, 2017.

“Once again, Gifford’s Ice Cream has done extremely well in the 2017 World Dairy Expo Championship Dairy Product Contest by capturing first place in two coveted ice cream classes:  Regular Vanilla and Open Class Sherbet,” says Brad Legreid, Executive Director, Wisconsin Dairy Products Association, which conducts the annual judging contest. “Over the years, Gifford’s has achieved a great deal of success in our contests by garnering at least one, if not more, first places in the ice cream judging competition.”

In 2016, Gifford’s Black Raspberry Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt won first place in the frozen yogurt category with its French Vanilla and Vanilla Bean placing second in their classes. The company’s World’s Best Chocolate has been a contest grand champion five times, meaning the top winner for all the ice cream categories.

The Wisconsin Dairy Products Association sponsors the annual competition, which features 14 ice cream categories along with 65 other categories for cheese, butter, whey and Grade A dairy products. Each ice cream entry is judged in a blind taste test, based on flavor, body and texture, melting quality, color and appearance. Judging took place on August 24, 2017; there were 1,489 total entries this year across all 79 product categories.

“It’s a tremendous honor to see our ice cream recognized,” said Lindsay Skilling, fifth generation ice cream maker and CEO of Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream. “Our entire family is passionate about creating the highest quality and most delicious ice cream on the market and we couldn’t do it without our employees. Many of our employees, who are part of the entire Gifford’s family, have been with us for 10, 15, 20 and even 40 years, and I want to thank them for getting up every morning and being there to help us make our ice cream the old-fashioned way.”

 

Family-Owned Stands Wrapping up Ice Cream Season

October means colder weather is on the way. It also means the end of Maine’s ice cream stand season for Gifford’s Ice Cream. Closing day for the Skowhegan stand is Oct. 8; for Auburn and Waterville it is October 22; and for Bangor and Farmington it is October 29. On the final weekend at each of the five-family owned stands, Gifford’s will host a buy-one- get one free special. Throughout October, there will be limited days and hours of operation at the stands, so  visit Gifford’s here or check the company’s Facebook page for details.

 

Highlights of the 2017 summer ice cream season include:

 

  • Partnering with the Travis Mills Foundation and raising more than $7,000 at the stands to date. Gifford’s also sponsored a family to attend the Travis Mills Foundation retreat and supplied ice cream for all the guests.
  • Chris Kinney joined the Gifford’s family as General Manager of the five stands.
  • Launching six new flavors — Blueberry Oat Crumble, Chocolate Peanut Butter, Moo-Slide, Power Play Fudge, Southern Peach and Color Blast — and testing them with our loyal fans. The big hits of the season were Blueberry Oat Crumble Frozen Yogurt, Power Play Fudge and Chocolate Peanut Butter.
  • Introducing and serving soft serve ice cream at the Auburn and Farmington stands.
  • Two stands celebrated significant anniversaries; Farmington celebrated 35 years and Bangor celebrated 30 years.
  • Creating and adding the super popular donut ice cream sandwich as a recurring special to our stand menu.
  • Serving up delicious Richie’s® Italian Ice to stand goers Auburn, Farmington and Waterville.
  • Scooped more than one million ice cream cones.

 

“It’s been an amazing summer, and I want to thank everyone who visits our family-owned stands each year for your continued support,” noted Skilling. “We love sharing special moments with each of you and serving you our delicious ice cream. Seeing the smiling faces of children and families enjoying our ice cream, is one of the most treasured rewards for our entire family.”

 

Gifford’s sells 2.2 million gallons of ice cream each year and serves more than one million cones each summer from its five family-owned and operated stands. The company offers more than 100 unique ice cream flavors, frozen yogurts, sherbets, and sorbets.

 

About Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream
Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream, world-class ice cream from a small town in Maine, is a fifth-generation, family-owned company that sources its fresh milk and cream exclusively from independent family farms, and uses antique Cherry Burrell freezers to slow churn the most delicious, creamiest ice cream possible. The company has earned numerous international and national “First Place” and “World’s Best” awards for its premium ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sherbet. Gifford’s sells its ice cream from Maine to North Carolina and in select states as far west as Illinois. In Maine, Gifford’s has five famous ice cream stands. For more information visit www.giffordsicecream.com. Follow Gifford’s Ice Cream on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.