News
Local dairy brings 'Pride' to the region
Heather Milbrath
07/03/2012
Pride Dairy’s “Dairy Dipper II” has been open for three years now and in that short time, it has made quite a name for itself. Recently Pride Dairy was named the ‘North Dakota Destination’ in the MSN Living’s “50 Stops in 50 States” article.
According to the MSN Living website, bloggers were asked to share “can’t-miss, off-the-beaten-path summer destinations in their home state.” Pride Dairy was chosen by Beth Schatz Kaylor, a freelance writer for MSN, as the must see summer spot in North Dakota.
Jeff Beyer, owner of Pride Dairy, said he knew nothing about this article until a customer told him.
“This is all so foreign to us.” Beyer said. “We are this little tiny shop, not even on Main Street and we get customers from all over.”
This is not the first time Pride Dairy was highlighted in national media. Two years ago, Pride Dairy was featured in USA Today’s article
“The USA’s best ice cream: Top parlors in 50 states”. In this article, Pride Dairy was picked as the best ice cream parlor in North Dakota.
“Being recognized like this is better than winning a million dollars for us.” Beyer said. “It shows that all the work we are putting in is paying off.”
Beyer feels much of Pride’s success is due to having a good product, as well as good customer service.
“Our goal is to treat people how we all want to be treated.” Beyer said. “When customers come in we want them to enjoy it.”
Shelly Spang, manager of the Dairy Dipper II, feels that going to Pride Dairy should be an experience for the customers.
“We have the best customers.” Spang said. “They are why I love coming to work every day.”
Spang stated her favorite customers are the young kids.
“The look on their face when you hand them that cone is priceless.” Spang said. “It’s true for both ends of the spectrum however; our older customers are just as happy as the young ones when they come in. Not that we don’t like to serve the middle aged ones too.”
Beyer is pleased with his decision to reopen the Dairy Dipper.
“I’ve been at Pride my whole life, but I never felt like people would seek us out.” Beyer said. “I thought it would be so fun to bring more customers into the facility. We had the room and we thought the community would accept and utilize an ice cream parlor. I just never thought it would do this well.”
Aside from their excellent customer service, Pride Dairy is also known for its ice cream, especially Juneberry. Pride Dairy’s most popular product is the cowpies, which is Juneberry ice cream on a stick dipped in chocolate.
“The cowpies started out a joke for someone’s birthday, but now the joke is on us.” Beyer said. Pride Dairy goes through roughly 300 cowpies per week plus special orders. The largest special order of cowpies is for this year’s North Dakota State Fair—3,000 pies.
Beyer feels he has the best job in the world.
“People are usually happy when they walk in the door, because they are getting ice cream.” Beyer said. “If they aren’t happy coming in, they sure are on the way out.”
With all the success The Dairy Dipper II has been having, Beyer can’t understand why the original Dairy Dipper closed back in the 1960s.
“As far as I’m concerned, I don’t see us ever closing.” Beyer said. “We’ve become a destination, and that to me is a reward in itself.”