UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- It's not hard to convince campus visitors that the Penn State Creamery is a much-beloved landmark for the Nittany faithful. Even before they experience the famous freshness and quality of its ice creams, sherbets and cottage cheeses, they're usually persuaded by long lines of proof -- school kids (by the busload) and nostalgic alumni vote with their feet to say Penn State Creamery ice cream is a treat worth waiting for.

But the Creamery is more than an ice cream parlor. Part store, part laboratory, part alumni touchstone, the humble 1960s styling of the salesroom holds a century of Penn State tradition. It also masks the fact that, when it comes to colleges and ice cream, Penn State really IS number one.

"We are the biggest by far when it comes to university-based creameries," says creamery manager Thomas Palchak. "There are several other good operations -- Washington State, Wisconsin and North Carolina State -- but there is a significant difference in scale between them and Penn State. North Carolina State University, for instance, produces about 200 gallons of ice cream each week; we produce 5,000 to 8,000 gallons per week, and about 225,000 gallons of ice cream, frozen sherbet and yogurt each year, with ice cream being 90 percent of that. We're hand-dipping about 750,000 ice cream cones a year in that little tiny store."

The Creamery's story starts in 1895, when the State College Creamery supplied fresh milk and churned butter to university presidents and faculty families via horse-drawn wagons. Palchak says Penn State's turn-of-the-century college dairy operations were part of a larger commitment to the state's fledgling dairy industry.

"At one point, most of the ag schools -- and even service academies like the Naval Academy -- had a dairy plant," he says. "It followed the commitment to the dairy industry in that state. So as the dairy industry was growing into a distinct part of food processing at the turn of the century and into the '40s, producing a very perishable food that's easily contaminated, they built these dairy plants committed to supporting this industry segment, and Penn State's creamery is just part of that."

Continued technological innovation in the '50s pushed many colleges to phase out their dairy plants, and the '70s brought the growth of processed-food industries and the creation of food science departments. Universities faced with a burgeoning, multi-faceted food industry could no longer afford to favor dairy manufacturing.

Industry consolidation meant college dairy plants couldn't compete against large regional dairies who could supply milk and ice cream to their campuses much more economically. Compounding this were exorbitant costs of processing equipment.

"One freezer is $150,000, and a new separator is $125,000," Palchak says. "Very quickly, you can get into the millions in equipment costs. Agriculture colleges and departments began to phase out university dairy plants."

From more than 50 college dairies nationwide, Palchak estimates that fewer than 10 remain, mostly student-run. With 21 full-time employees, strong industry ties and fierce devotion from students and alumni, he describes the Penn State Creamery as "a rare gem in university creamer circles."

"We are very fortunate, and we try not to forget that," Palchak says. "I tell all our employees that we are here as stewards, and we will one day pass this torch along to another pasteurizer, another manager. We are here to protect this and not look at it selfishly. This is Penn State and we're just here at this point in time to care for it."

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EDITORS: For more information, contact Thomas Palchak at 814-865-7536.

Contact: Gary Abdullah gxa2@psu.edu 814-863-2708 814-865-1068 fax #191