Who wouldn’t want to make a job out of eating ice cream? Would it even really be work? Not for most of us!
American Dairy Association North East and Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program (the state’s dairy checkoff program managed by ADA North East) created a new position of Honorary Chief Ice Cream Officer this summer to shine a light on local dairy farms that offer everyone’s favorite summertime treat (or everyday treat for some of us).
The search was on, and we selected social media influencers Maddie Smith of @onthemovewithmad and Mia Svirsky of @districteats from among many applicants because of their large following — a combined 288,000 people who love food and fun!
Maddie and Mia headed out on the Ice Cream Road Trip and will visit 18 on-farm Pennsylvania creameries and post five episodes on Instagram and TikTok. New episodes drop every Monday.
“Consumers truly care about where and how their food is produced,” said ADA North East CEO John Chrisman. “The Ice Cream Road Trip is a fun way to build trust in dairy with consumers who are far-removed from the farm, and it ties in perfectly with National Ice Cream Month in July.”
Click here for the Ice Cream Road Trip map.
This is a different approach to dairy checkoff promotion and recognizes how some dairy farmers are direct-marketing dairy products to consumers. Since there are more than 50 million consumers in ADA North East’s six-state region, it seemed like a great opportunity to remind them about delicious local options they have to enjoy dairy.
Among our criteria for selecting the 18 creameries of the Ice Cream Road Trip was that the creamery is located right on the farm where the cows are milked.
The creameries range in size and location from Till Top Creamery in Corry, Pa., in the state’s northwestern corner to central Pennsylvania’s Berkey Creamery at Penn State University, to Chester Springs Creamery at Milky Way Farm in Chester Springs, Pa., near Philadelphia.
“We’re showcasing the creative way we as dairy farmers are marketing our products to consumers,” said Lolly Lesher, Pennsylvania Dairy Promotion Program chair and owner of Way-Har Farm in Bernville, Pa., one of the stops on the road trip. “By using these popular social media influencers, we can connect with their hundreds of thousands of followers to help build trust in dairy — because really, who doesn’t love ice cream?”
Be sure to follow Maddie and Mia on their Ice Cream Road Trip through July. Hopefully, it will encourage you to find a creamery near where you live and support a local dairy farmer!
Jean Kummer is the industry communications specialist for American Dairy Association North East.