Learning By Scooping: Inside the Cal Poly Creamery's Weekly Drive-Thru

Wheels of cheddar cheese aging in the Cal Poly Creamery's freezer. All three of the creamery's cheddar cheeses need to age for a minimum of six months. (Photo/Roman Noravian)

BY ROMAN NORAVIAN

Although drive-thru’s were banned in San Luis Obispo in 1982, if one were to venture to the outskirts of Cal Poly’s campus, they would find a lone drive-thru that routinely draws long lines.

This is the Cal Poly Creamery’s weekly drive-thru, which operates from noon to 4 p.m. most Fridays and is located at the Dairy Products Technology Center, 1 Grand Ave. During this time, students and residents can drive up and order from a diverse selection of cheeses and ice cream.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, business at the creamery was steady. Customers, waiting in a line of cars, placed orders with workers at their windows. After a few minutes, workers would emerge from the creamery with trays laden with delectable dairy products.

The roster of seven cheeses includes fromage blanc, smoked Gouda, and chipotle cheddar. As for ice cream, sweet-treat lovers can snag classic pints–vanilla bean and strawberries and cream—or more adventurous flavors like mud pie.

“It started during COVID because we have a little storefront, but during COVID, it wasn't really open,” creamery Student Manager Jenna Bates said about the operation’s beginnings. “So [the Creamery] started doing a drive-thru and it became really popular, and so they'll sell all of our products, our cheese and our pints of ice cream.”

Bates, an agricultural systems management major, said one of the most popular items is individual ice cream scoops, which aren’t offered during the week. Only two flavors are offered at a time to prevent the students who are scooping the ice cream from getting overwhelmed.

Based on how busy the drive-thru gets, it’s understandable that the creamery would implement a two-scoop limit; Bates said on busy days that they can clear out an entire freezer’s worth of pints of ice cream.

A menu displays the ice cream and cheese flavors available at
the Cal Poly Creamery on Friday, Jan. 24. (Photo/Roman Noravian)

“We will…sell hundreds of pints and hundreds of pieces of cheese, even more scoops of ice cream,” she said. 

High-traffic days include Cal Poly’s Open House in April and parent’s weekend in the fall, according to Bates. On these days, it’s all hands on deck at the drive-thru, and students from the feed mill to the rodeo team come and lend a hand.

One reason that might help to explain why the drive-thru is exceptionally busy during these times is that the creamery’s products–and all of Cal Poly’s products, for that matter–are marketed toward students’ parents.

“The parents of the students, that is a huge demographic that we try to sell to because, I mean, people love to see the Cal Poly logo,” said Marissa Johnston, another student manager.

A third-year food science major, Johnston said that the community members of SLO also account for a substantial amount of the drive-thru’s business.

“There's people that come to our drive through every week...like, that's a tradition of theirs,” Johnston said, adding that one older couple consistently frequented the drive-thru over the summer.

The creamery also sells its products to grocery stores around SLO, including SLO Ranch Market, Vons, and California Fresh Market, according to Johnston. It also receives the occasional order from local wineries, usually for its cheeses.

Johnston said her favorite part of working at the creamery is working with the machines used to make the ice cream.

“I think it's super cool that after we do an ice cream run, we get to take the entire machine apart, clean it, and then put it all back together,” Johnston said. “It's kind of like a giant puzzle.”

That’s one aspect that makes the creamery unique: Everything from the ice cream flavors to the cheese cutting to pasteurization is done by students.

A worker scoops strawberry ice cream at the Cal Poly Creamery.
The creamery can go through hundreds of scoops on a busy day.
(Photo/Roman Noravian)

"It's literally learning by doing,” said Anthony Sousa, the creamery’s general student manager. 

A fourth-year city and regional planning major, Sousa started working at the creamery during his freshman year at Cal Poly. He learned about it from a neighbor back home, who happened to be the previous general student manager.

“I grew up on a dairy,” Sousa said. “I've only seen the milking of cows. So now that I’m working here, I get to see what actually gets done with the milk.”

While some people like Sousa come in with a background in the dairy industry, it’s not a requirement for working at the creamery. According to Bates, they “have a little bit of everyone” among their ranks, including a business major and two aerospace engineering majors.

“I think it's just about liking what you do and trying new things because everyone here gets an opportunity to try these things,” Bates said.

In addition to the hands-on experiences, working with ice cream offers some pretty sweet perks on its own.

“My favorite part has to be trying the ice cream,” Bates said. “I mean, right off the line is the best part.”