NASHVILLE, Mich. – Moo-ville Creamery, the Nashville, Michigan-based dairy company with three locations across mid-Michigan, makes some of the best chocolate ice cream in the United States, according to the North American Ice Cream Association.
The family owned company won a blue ribbon last month at ConeCon, NICRA’s annual trade show and ice cream competition. It also received a red ribbon for vanilla and a white ribbon for strawberry, the second- and third-place awards for those flavors respectively, the Lansing State Journal reports.
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This year’s competition was the “largest attended in recent history,” according to NICRA.
Troy Westendorp, who heads ice cream production, said Moo-ville employees attended the convention in years past, but this was their first time entering the competition. To score high honors immediately was humbling, he said.
“We started off as nothing,” he said. “My parents grew up as dairy farmers. And for us to take our own cows’ milk and turn it into award-winning ice cream, it just puts a stamp on everything. It kind of justifies all that we’ve sacrificed over these years to get where we’re at, and we’re excited for the future.”
So what makes Moo-ville’s chocolate ice cream so utterly delicious? Westendorp said it’s all in the ingredients. The company uses granulated sugar instead of corn syrup, which thickens the ice cream.
They also push the percentage of butterfat — the natural fat used in ice cream — up to about 16-17%.
”(It’s) the most expensive part of the ice cream, but the more cream that you put in the ice cream, the smoother finish you get at the end,” Westendorp said.
Since news of Moo-ville’s victory broke, Westendorp said shops have already seen an influx of customers seeking a scoop of their commendable chocolate flavor.
“We knew it was coming, so we stocked up quite a bit on inventory.”