The Dairy Blog

Here’s a little more information about the history of Mayfield Snow Cream…

Three years ago I was approached by company president Scottie Mayfield about an idea for a wintertime feature flavor. It seems he had come across a lady from Spruce Pine, North Carolina who had a formula for a product she called “Snow Cream,” and she trademarked the name to deter infringement on her idea.

Now, when I was growing up in East Tennessee we received about two snowfalls a year and, besides schools shutting down, one of the highlights of such an occasion was making homemade snow cream. The recipe was quiet simple – take a bowl of freshly fallen snow, add a half cup of whole milk, half a teaspoon of vanilla extract and sugar to taste. What a treat!

As much as I loved this concoction as a kid, I had reservations about its potential success as an ice cream flavor. After all, I didn’t know if other folks had similar experiences (like Rob) or if people would even know what snow cream was all about.

Still skeptical, we designed a unique carton fitting of the name and made the first run of this product in October 2003. Believing the initial production would last us through December, we promptly ran out in five days! The product was an instant hit and became the buzz of Mayfield lovers throughout the South.

Because I had so underestimated the volume of this product many grocers’ shelves were without until we were finally able to get enough cartons to supply our entire region. Additionally, the enthusiasm surrounding the product spawned offshoots such as Snow Cream Stix and Snow Cream Lowfat Vanilla Milk.

Today, Snow Cream® continues to thrive, and a product that had an expected life of four months has stretched that to three years…and counting.

Alan