EAST HARDWICK, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont is known for its iconic maple creemees, but there’s a lot of work that goes into making even one ice cream cone. At Clair-a-Den Farm, that work is a family affair spanning 24/7, 365.
“It’s a labor of love and a lot of commitment,” farm owner Jeremy Michaud said.
He and his wife, Leslie, are one of four generations of Michauds to run the Northeast Kingdom dairy farm. Jeremy’s grandparents moved to the East Hardwick property from Quebec in the 1950s.
Now, Jeremy and Leslie are training the next generation of dairy farmers. Their oldest son, Lincoln, is home from Cornell University for the summer and is ready to put in some elbow grease.
“Crop management, manure management, herd health stuff,” he said. “I work with the cows a lot. My goal, long-term, is to return home to the farm. I’m here during the summers, during breaks and stuff.”
Every member of the Michaud family pitches in to keep things running. The work is far from easy.
“We know what goes into it, we know the hard work, the grit, the time and energy it takes,” Leslie said.
But, when the kids take over, they’ll inherit more than just 300 milking cows and acres of cropland. They’ll also get Kingdom Creamery of Vermont.
“We use the dairy from the farm to make ice cream products,” Leslie explained.
Opened in 2011, Kingdom Creamery of Vermont was their way of diversifying their business. With a saturated cheese market, they opted to try something sweeter. It’s a short commute to the creamery, just across the street, for the roughly 1,500 gallons of milk produced each day. Each drop is made into delicious ice cream.
“Everybody has to contribute and help and work,” said Jeremy. “It starts here and translates to there… It’s two different businesses, but they have to function together.”
With a yield of about 35 cones per gallon of milk, Jeremy says they’re churning out about 52,500 servings of ice cream on any given day.
“Everybody has their niche, and this just happens to be ours,” he said with a smile.
They sell the sweet treats in bulk to creemee stands and scoop shops across New England. Each customer can customize their mix, from 5-10% milk fat for soft serve, or 14% for their deluxe hard ice cream.
“You’ll know that mouth feel when you taste the creemee that’s 10 percent,” Leslie said.
You could throw a stone anywhere in Vermont and hit an ice cream shop using their dairy base for creemees, including Silloway Maple, Little Gordo, The Sweet Spot, Vermont Cookie Love, and Crossroads Beverage and Deli. There are also countless grocery stores that stock their hard ice cream pints. No matter where you get your ice cream fix, it all starts with the same ingredients– hard work and local dairy.
“And, I think we just have the best cows on the planet,” added Jeremy.
Their hard ice cream mix is sold in pints, quarts, and 3-gallon boxes and is available in 30 flavors. Their soft serve mix is highly customizable, depending on the consistency you want. They also offer gelato mix and have their own sugarbush. That means all of their maple flavor is real maple from the farm.
You can find more details about their offerings here.
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