Archive for April, 2009

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CLEAR YOUR CALENDARS THIS SATURDAY!

Thursday, April 30th, 2009

country-classic-logo.gifThis Saturday, May 2, Turkey Hill will be hosting its 10th annual Country Classic at the Central Manor Church of God in Washington Boro, right here in Lancaster, PA. If you’re printing directions via MapQuest, the address is 387 Penn Street, Manor Township in Lancaster.

The Central Manor Church is nestled in one of the most picturesque corners of Lancaster County, so if you’ve been thinking about making a trip to our neck of the woods, this is a great time to do it!

The Country Classic features sporting events for runners and cyclists, but it also includes lots of fun and games for the whole family. There will be free kids rides, games, costumed characters, music and, of course, the baby derby (featuring the fastest babies around!). And if you haven’t registered for the races (baby, child or adult), don’t worry…you can still sign up on the day of the event, beginning at 7 am Saturday morning.

Turkey Hill’s very own Giant Cow will also make an appearance along with plenty of Turkey Hill ice cream and drinks, Herr’s chips and Hatfield hot dogs. All the ice cream, snacks and drinks will be available by donation with all proceeds benefiting the Lancaster Farmland Trust. The Lancaster Farmland Trust is an organization Turkey Hill is very passionate about because they work hard to preserve beautiful farmland throughout Lancaster County.

More information about the Country Classic can be found on our website. Hope to see you there!

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THE GREATEST STORE EVER?

Tuesday, April 28th, 2009

This photo caught our eye because it’s related to this month’s poll and, for many of us, it’s perhaps the greatest store in existence. It’s located in Cooperstown, NY (home of the Baseball Hall of Fame) at 137 Main Street (as seen in the photo). After a little research, we’re guessing that the “greatest store” seen in this photo is the Sandlot Kid Bat Company. According to their website, they’re also located at that address and specialize in engraved personalized baseball bats. And ice cream, of course.

Now we realize not all of you are baseball fans, but we are all ice cream fans. Which leads us to ask: If a baseball and ice cream store isn’t your idea of perfection, what other item would a store have to sell (in addition to ice cream) in order to top your list of places to shop?

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UBE ICE CREAM!

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

The purple scoop pictured above isn’t something you’re likely to find at your local grocery store or even your local ice cream shop. It’s called Ube Ice Cream and it’s a very popular flavor in the Philippines. The sweet treat gets its unique color from the ube (“ooo-bee” or “ooo-bay”), an incredibly vibrant, sweet, purple yam used in a variety of Filipino desserts (like ube cake, ube buns, and ube macaroons ). Since we’ve never had Ube Ice Cream, we can’t attest to its flavor, but it sure does look good, especially with that oh-so-tempting drip about to fall off the right side!

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DID YOU KNOW: THE MAN BEHIND THE FIRST ICE CREAM FACTORY

Monday, April 20th, 2009

Jacob Fussell is known as the “Father of the Ice Cream Industry” largely because he opened the first large scale ice cream factory in the U.S. in Baltimore, Maryland back in 1851. Back then, the average American ate just one teaspoon of ice cream per year (What?!). Today, the average person indulges in over 23 quarts per year!

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THIS WEEK IN ICE CREAM NEWS: A PINT-SIZED DEADLY WEAPON?

Friday, April 17th, 2009

We had some fun tracking down weird ice cream-related news stories a few weeks ago for a post here on the Ice Cream Journal, so we thought we’d do again. Heck, we might even make a habit out of it! Here’s the latest in the world of ice cream:

APRIL 12, 2009 – FOLKS WAIT OVERNIGHT FOR ICE CREAM

According to the story, about a dozen people camped overnight outside an ice cream shop in Des Moines, Iowa in a tradition marking the opening of the shop for the season. Said the article, “if you’re first in line, the ice cream shop puts your picture on the wall and gives you free ice cream.”

That seems like pretty good incentive, but we have to wonder…if you get there the day before it opens and you’re not the first line, is there still a reason to wait?

APRIL 14, 2009 – WOMAN ATTACKS GAS STATION WITH ICE CREAM

When a Portsmouth, NH gas station clerk refused to sell beer to Jamie Cahill, the woman purchased a pint of ice cream instead. Not a bad idea, right? Well, instead of eating it, Cahill went outside and threw the pint through the gas station’s plate glass window. According to the story, police did not identify the flavor.

APRIL 16, 2009 – FOOD CHANNEL NAMES ICE CREAM THE TOP DESSERT OF 2009

Move over chocolate cake, there’s a new after-dinner treat in town. Actually, it’s not new, but ice cream was recently named in a Food Channel news release as the “new star of the dessert menu and (the) leading comfort food in the U.S. for 2009.” We can’t really argue with that!

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PLAY BALL! PHILLIE PHANATIC GETS HIS OWN ICE CREAM FLAVOR!

Wednesday, April 15th, 2009

In case you haven’t noticed, baseball season is in full swing and that means lots of excited baseball fans here at Ice Cream Central. (Let us know how much of a baseball fan you are by answering our poll on the right.)

We’re also excited because we’ve got a new baseball-themed ice cream flavor on the roster. Turkey Hill has been the proud maker of the Philadelphia Phillies’ official ice cream flavor, Phillies Graham Slam, for many seasons, but this year, we’ve added another Phils flavor to the line-up in honor of the team’s off-the-wall mascot, the Phillie Phanatic!

The newest addition to the roster, Phillie Phanatic Double Play, features Bavarian cream-flavored light ice cream with caramel corn and caramel swirl. The pint-sized rookie (and by “pint-sized,” we mean it will only be available in pints) will be winning over fans in Citizens Bank Park and wherever Phillies Graham Slam is sold.

We’re also happy to announce that the Graham Slam Sweepstakes will also return this year. To enter, just look for the sticker on specially marked packages of Phillies Graham Slam ice cream and enter the code online. Every two weeks we’ll select three or four names at random and each winner will receive four tickets to an upcoming Phillies home game. At the end of the season, we’ll also choose one lucky fan to receive tickets to a Phillies luxury suite party for you and 14 of your friends! The good news is, you can enter as often as you’d like in order to increase your chances of winning.

And, as always, Turkey Hill will donate five cents from the sale of each container of Phillies Graham Slam ice cream to the team’s very worthwhile RBI Program, an effort that helps bring baseball to the children of America’s inner cities. You gotta admit, even if you’re not a Phillies fan, that’s a pretty good reason to buy some Phillies Graham Slam the next time you’re in the freezer aisle contemplating your ice cream options.

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MOOSE TRACKS UPSETS VANILLA TO WIN ULTIMATE FLAVOR TOURNAMENT!

Monday, April 13th, 2009

In the history of sports, there have been only a few upsets of truly unimaginable proportion. Team USA over the Soviet Union in the 1980 “Miracle on Ice.” Joe Namath leading the Jets to a stunning win over the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Buster Douglas outpunching Mike Tyson to shock the boxing world in 1990.

And today, Light Recipe Moose Tracks joins that list of legendary underdogs with an amazing win over defending champion Vanilla Bean in the second annual Turkey Hill Ultimate Flavor Tournament.

It’s no doubt that the win is among the greatest ever, but some might argue that what Moose Tracks accomplished over the last seven days qualifies as perhaps the greatest upset in history. That distinction is granted not just because Light Recipe Moose Tracks – a 40-to-1 underdog entering the tournament – beat the number one flavor in the nation, but because of the incredible margin by which that victory was achieved. After more than 1,600 votes were cast by ice cream lovers across the nation, Light Recipe Moose Tracks handed Vanilla Bean a meltdown of epic proportions by grabbing a whopping 63 percent of the votes. Just minutes after the polls opened, Moose Tracks jumped out to a 12 to 1 lead and, by the end of the first day, everyone knew they were witnessing history in the making.

The win is truly legendary for other reasons, too. Vanilla Bean – the top-selling flavor in the nation, “the flavor that goes with everything” – wasn’t just beaten by any old ice cream, it was beaten by a light ice cream. Yes, the victory is an historic moment in ice cream history and signals a new era for light ice cream flavors worldwide. The defeat of the world’s greatest ice cream flavor by Light Recipe Moose Tracks has put light flavors on an equal freezer shelf with their regular peers. Equal in taste. Equal in quality. And now, finally, equal in the eyes of ice cream lovers worldwide.

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WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH, THE TOUGH EAT ICE CREAM

Thursday, April 9th, 2009

There’s a reason ice cream is considered a comfort food. You can’t eat ice cream while you’re mad. Go ahead, try it. It’s like trying to sneeze with your eyes open. Impossible. It works for sadness too. In movies and TV we always see jilted lovers healing their post break-up wounds while curled up on the couch with a big carton of ice cream. Something about that double fudge swirl just makes everything better. It’s a proven fact.

Ice cream even helped our nation through the Great Depression. One soothing flavor – Rocky Road – was named after the bumpy times many Americans were facing and quickly became a national favorite. And though we’re not facing a depression today, we still see proof of the healing powers of ice cream when we take a look at some of our local ice cream shops. Even in the midst of a sour economy, people are still lining up for a scoop or two of their favorite flavor.

Yes, business is booming for scoop shops, because no matter how many points the Dow is down or how bad the housing market is, ice cream always tastes good. And for those 10 minutes while you’re enjoying that frosty treat, nothing else matters.

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LOWERING THE PRICE OF TURKEY HILL ICE CREAM

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009

Good news, fellow ice cream lovers! I’m very happy to announce that effective April 1, 2009, Turkey Hill Dairy offered retailers a five cent reduction on the net wholesale price of our 1.5 quart ice cream flavors. This is in conjunction with a five cent decrease offered on October 1, 2008. In other words, retailers are now able to purchase Turkey Hill ice cream for 10 cents less than they used to, a savings we hope will lead to lower prices for the many Turkey Hill ice cream fans out there.

So why the ten cent discount? There are a few reasons, actually. 

For years, the cost of making ice cream rose steadily. So did the cost of making just about every other packaged good. Which is why manufacturers began decreasing the size of packaging, raising the price of the product, or, worst of all, stopped making real ice cream in many flavors. Sometimes they did all three. As many of you know, instead of raising prices to offset the rising cost of ingredients, last year Turkey Hill decreased the size of its packaging (but we kept making the same great tasting, rich premium ice cream). It was an issue I discussed in a previous blog entry here on the Ice Cream Journal.

But now, the cost of ice cream ingredients (primarily milk and cream) has begun to decrease. Prices came down enough to warrant passing along some of that savings to customers. I know it’s only 10 cents, but given the higher grocery costs everyone has experienced over the past few years, and today’s tough economic times, a little savings here and there can really add up. 

Making the decision to lower prices was actually an easy one. Ever since my great-grandfather, Armor Frey, created Turkey Hill Dairy over 75 years ago, the needs of our customers has always been the primary motivation behind many of our business decisions. He’d, no doubt, be extremely pleased with this price reduction…after letting me know what he thought about the disappearance of Apricot and Honey Vanilla from the Turkey Hill ice cream line-up.

Sincerely,

Quintin Frey
President, Turkey Hill Dairy

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THE ULTIMATE FLAVOR TOURNAMENT (ROUND 5): THE FINAL TWO!

Monday, April 6th, 2009

The Ultimate Flavor Tournament is designed to determine the best Turkey Hill ice cream flavor as determined by your votes. Each week we’ll narrow down the field until just one flavor is left standing. We’ll also choose 10 comments at random from all the comments left during the six week showdown and each commenter will receive a one month supply of Turkey Hill ice cream and we’ll choose one lucky comment to receive a ONE YEAR supply of ice cream.

And then there were two. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup put up a good fight early last week, before fading to finish eight percentage points behind Vanilla Bean. Meanwhile, Light Recipe Moose Tracks continued its amazing run to the final round with a decisive win over Tastykake Peanut Butter Kandy Kake.

Instead of asking Ernie for his opinion of who will win the Vanilla Bean vs. Light Recipe Moose Tracks battle, we decided to let each flavor plead its case for why it should be named Turkey Hill’s “Ultimate Flavor.”

VANILLA BEAN

“First, I’d like to congratulate my opponent for getting this far. It’s been a long road for both of us and we both deserve to be here. Why should I, Vanilla Bean, win the Ultimate Flavor Tournament? Well, I won it last year, which should count for something, and I go great with just about everything. You can dress me up with tons of different toppings. Go ahead, imagine me drizzled with chocolate and caramel syrup, topped with whipped cream and chopped peanuts. I look good, don’t I? And, I didn’t want to have to mention this, but Vanilla is America’s number one selling ice cream flavor…by a mile. Considering all that, I think the choice is pretty clear.”

LIGHT RECIPE MOOSE TRACKS

“Wow. I, uhh, really don’t know what to say. This whole experience has been pretty overwhelming and I’m so honored to be here representing not only the Light Recipe line-up, but every other Turkey Hill flavor who’s not afraid to mix things up with a little something extra. Why should you vote for me? Because a vote for Light Recipe Moose Tracks is a vote for all the fun that goes along with enjoying ice cream. I’m vanilla with fudge swirls and loaded with peanut butter cups…that’s a pretty exciting combination! I’m a Light Recipe ice cream, but I’ve got all of the flavor (and sometimes more) of just about any other ice cream in the Turkey Hill line-up. Oh, and I was featured on an episode of Unwrapped when the Food Network visited Turkey Hill. You gotta admit, that’s pretty cool! ”

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