To the delight of many Cornellians, the Dairy Bar — a campus fixture serving Cornell-made ice cream — reopened for business last Friday.
The Dairy Bar closed in 2010 to undergo renovations. With the Dairy Bar’s limited-service opening in Stocking Hall, Cornellians will be able to look forward to sampling Cornell Dairy products — including apple cider, yogurt, milk and ice cream — en masse later this fall.
Currently, there are 22,000 pounds of sugar ready for ice cream production in storage at the University’s Dairy Processing Plant, according to Jason Huck, general manager of Dairy Operations at the Dairy Processing Plant.
“We are hoping to start bottling apple cider on Homecoming Saturday,” Huck said. “From there, we plan to phase in our fluid milk, yogurt and ice cream products.”
In addition to opening up in a new facility, the Cornell Dairy Plant has also revamped its logo and many of its product labels and packaging for products like cider, yogurt, milk and ice cream, according to Huck.
Students welcomed the Dairy Bar’s reopening with excitement, saying they are excited to try its signature, Cornell-made ice cream when production begins in the fall. Some students who have classes near the Dairy Bar’s new Stocking Hall location said they appreciate its convenience.
“I am an animal science student. It was a bit annoying to walk down to Trillium. … It’s a good location,” Danielle Griffin ’14 said.
Others said they approve of the Dairy Bar’s locally-source products.
“A big trend right now is people want to know where their food is coming from. It’s all Cornell products,” Chelsea Jones ’14 said.
In addition to satisfying Cornellians’ sweet-tooths, the Dairy Bar also seeks to teach the community about dairy production — featuring a “multimedia educational display,” Huck said.
The display features an observation gallery area where the processing equipment is visible, as well as video monitors that will play footage of the Dairy Farm.
“Our dairy extension team offers a dairy certificate program which includes courses from basic sanitation to cheese-making, and anyone from students to industry personnel can participate,” Huck said.
Brooke Ryan ’17, who is studying dairy science, said it is interesting to be able to observe dairy production process at the Dairy Bar.
“It’s cool to see how it is starting off,” she said.
The milk for Dairy Bar products is sourced from the Cornell Dairy Farm, which is located about a mile and a half away from Cornell’s campus.
The milk is then sent to the Dairy Processing Plant, which is located in the same building as the Dairy Bar, Huck said.
In order for the Cornell Dairy Plant to better focus on not only its dairy production but also its academic and outreach missions, Huck said management of the Dairy Bar has been transferred to Cornell Dining.
Cornell Dining officials expressed excitement about partnering with the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences in operating the Dairy Bar.
“The Cornell Dairy will do what it does best: produce outstanding dairy products, and Cornell Dining will do what it does best: serve delicious food and beverages,” said Karen Brown, marketing and communications director of Campus Life.
As part of its collaboration, Cornell Dining has helped provide alternate dining options for Dairy Bar visitors while the University’s Dairy Processing Plant prepares to start producing ice cream again.
“We offer specialty sandwiches that were designed by Cornell Dining chefs specifically for that location. … It has full ice cream and sundaes and shakes,” Richard Anderson, assistant director of Cornell Dining said. “They are making wonderful ice cream sandwiches, their own waffle cones and they’re making ice cream cupcakes.”
Original Author: Erica Augenstein