Summer Starts Here
The inside scoop on Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream
By Wanda Curtis
Summer has finally arrived in Maine. As the temperature begins to climb, a favorite treat for many Mainers is a cold, creamy ice cream cone. Among the most popular in Maine are Gifford’s Ice Cream cones, sold at their three family-owned ice cream stands in Bangor, Skowhegan, and Waterville. Their ice cream is also available at partner stands throughout Maine and New England, according to Gifford’s marketing manager, Samantha Plourd. And it’s becoming increasingly available down the East Coast in New York, New Jersey, and the Mid-Atlantic, Plourd said.
The company serves more than 1 million ice cream cones every year, and sells more than 2 million gallons of ice cream at grocery stores, ice cream shops, restaurants, and universities. The ice cream has won both national and international awards.
100 Ice Cream Flavors
Featuring an amazing 100 ice cream flavors — Apple Pie, World’s Best Chocolate, Black Raspberry, Campfire S’mores, Cannoli, and more — Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream has something for everyone. Gifford’s also sells sugar-free ice cream, sherbet, and sorbets.
New ice cream flavors this year include Caramel Apple, Chocolate Caramel Brownie, Cookie Monster, and Peanut Butter Cookies N’ Cream, Plourd said.
When brainstorming for new ice cream flavors, the company gets inspiration and ideas from a variety of sources, including employees, the sales team, customers, ingredient vendors, as well as dairy and food industry newsletter articles on new and popular tastes, Plourd said. Then the research and development team meets to discuss how some of the ideas might become ice cream flavors. Next, the team makes a list of ingredients to prepare samples, which are tested by the research and development team, sales team, and employees throughout the company. Feedback determines the next steps, Plourd said.
Humble Beginnings
The business dates back to the 1800s, according to Gifford’s website, when Nathaniel Main started a milk and ice cream delivery business with a horse-drawn wagon in Connecticut. Main’s son, Chester, later joined the business, and his daughter, Audrey, eventually married Randall Gifford.
The couple moved to Maine in 1971 and bought dairies in Farmington and Skowhegan, where Gifford’s production plant still is located. They began making small batches of ice cream using recipes handed down by Audrey’s parents and sharing it with neighbors. Later, they opened stands in Skowhegan, Bangor, and Waterville. (Mini-golf courses are available at the Skowhegan and Waterville locations.)
Behind-the-Scenes
According to Plourd, local dairy farmers deliver milk and cream to the Skowhegan plant several times each week during the summer months. That begins the process of making Gifford’s creamy confections.
Mixing tanks blend each flavor before it goes into a 1940s Cherry Burrell ice cream freezer, where the ice cream is slowly churned until it reaches maximum creaminess. Then special ingredients are added to each flavor — such as wild blueberries from local fields or frozen strawberries thawed and sugared for several days. Finally, each flavor is poured into an individual container.
The containers then are placed on a conveyor belt that extends into a hardening tunnel with below-zero temperatures and high wind velocity. The website states temperatures can reach 60 degrees below zero, helping produce smoother, creamier ice cream.
Let’s Go!
Gifford’s three ice cream stands in Bangor, Skowhegan, and Waterville are now open seven days a week from noon to 8:30 p.m. Expert tip: Get there early to avoid the lines on hot summer days.
