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November 5, 2015

Gifford's to expand ice cream production in Skowhegan

Courtesy / Gifford's Famous Ice Cream Quarts of Gifford's Famous Ice Cream are filled at its production facility in Skowhegan.
Courtesy / Gifford's Famous Ice Cream Managers of the family-owned business: Lindsay Gifford-Skilling, general manager; John Chester Gifford Jr., vice president of sales; and Samantha Gifford, marketing manager.
By Paul Koenig

The family-owned ice cream maker in Skowhegan, Gifford’s Famous Ice Cream, is planning its most significant expansion to date.

In preparation for future growth, the company plans to add 3,810 square feet to its 48,000-square-foot Skowhegan facility to make room for new production equipment. The new equipment will allow workers to run two production lines simultaneously, doubling the production capacity for ice cream packaged for retail.

The ice cream maker’s retail market, made up of close to 1,000 stores from Maine to Virginia and as far west as Illinois, makes up a smaller portion of the business than wholesale, but it has seen the highest growth, at about 16% a year, said John Chester Gifford Jr., vice president of sales at the fifth-generation company.

Sales for the entire operation, including selling its three-gallon tubs to its wholesale market of independent ice cream shop, institutions and restaurants, have grown 12% to 15% over the last three to four years, he said.

And that makes for a lot of ice cream.

The company expects to produce 1.9 million gallons of the frozen stuff this year and to exceed 2 million gallons next year, he said.

“There are opportunities for us to continue that growth and have a rather large jump,” Gifford told Mainebiz. “This allows us to go out there and continue to sell."

The company hopes to add at least two full-time employees to its staff of 37 full-timers by next summer as part of the expansion.

The $1.6 million expansion, expected to be completed in April 2016, will double the retail packaging capacity, but it will also make the whole production operation more efficient. The new equipment includes two more large steam kettles, a new quart container filler and a new shrink wrapper for retail packaging.

The company makes 85% to 90% of the bases and ripples that go in the ice cream, so the increased capacity will allow workers to make those at the same time, Gifford said. And although the company hasn’t yet run into production capacity issues, Gifford said the new equipment will allow the company achieve its expected growth.

“Nothing holds us back from where we need to go now,” he said.

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