Welcome to the WSU Creamery, where a variety of activities take place each day and no matter what’s happening, the students of WSU are always a part of it!
The Creamery’s milk is produced by a small herd of dairy cattle at WSU’s Knott Dairy Center, located on the edge of Pullman
The milk is hauled from the farm to the Creamery in the early morning and is greeted by a group of student employees.
Under supervision of a team of staff members, the students pasteurize the milk for use in Cougar Cheese and Ferdinand’s Ice Cream. Many of the students are enrolled in the university’s School of Food Science and will work for major food manufacturers as scientists after graduation.
The cheese and ice cream are sold in Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe. Along with the traditional metal can of cheese, visitors can find smaller-sized, ready to eat pieces and a variety of ice cream products like shakes, sodas, sundaes, and cones, all made to order at our old fashioned soda fountain – the same way they’ve been prepared and served to the university community for over 50 years. Generations of WSU students have worked their way through college by serving up ice cream and smiles to Ferdinand’s customers
The friendly employees in our call center eagerly await orders via phone, internet and fax.
Cheese is carefully packaged in our shipping department (at the proud hands of those industrious students, of course) and leaves the facility daily on various journeys to fill eagerly awaiting refrigerators of hungry Cougar Cheese Fans around the world.
If you’re in Pullman on a weekday, visit the Marc P. Bates Observation Room to see the action first hand. If your timing is right, you’ll see us making the cheese and ice cream you enjoy at Ferdinand’s. However, some days we take breaks from production and spend the entire day cleaning. Even then, there’s about 20 minutes of videotaped footage available – making it possible for you to watch us create our yummy cheese and ice cream. If you’re making a special trip, call ahead for that day’s production schedule.
Cougar Cheese and Ice Cream is available on the WSU Campus at Ferdinand’s Ice Cream Shoppe. If you are in Pullman and Ferdinand’s is closed, Cougar Cheese is available at several local retail stores in town.
