Hudsonville Ice Cream brings simplicity back

For those of us who partake, ice cream is truly one of life’s simple pleasures. In recent years, while the flavors have grown increasingly varied, many of the formulas have grown complex. Questions have arisen about ingredients, and in particular many people have grown concerned over the presence of rBST, a growth hormone commonly found in several dairy products. Now Hudsonville, the largest manufacturer of branded ice cream in Michigan, is bringing simplicity back to the forefront with an expanded line of all-natural flavors.

“This new product line focuses on a clean ingredient label, using only simple and natural ingredients for a finished product that is rBST free,” says Raymond Sierengowski of Hudsonville Ice Cream. “In fact, not only is our Naturals line rBST free, but our entire line of products are and always have been rBST free. More than 20 of our products are also gluten-free.”

The four new flavors are easily recognizable with green packaging, and are available year-round. Here are the new flavors as Hudsonville describes them:

• Vanilla Bean: Created for those who cannot get enough of the great taste of Vanilla, this extra decadent flavor satisfies the most discerning palette. Perfect alone or for pairing with your favorite homemade pie!
• Salted Caramel: Natural ingredients in this ice cream blend harmoniously to unleash the pure salted caramel flavor that only nature can deliver. Our natural cane sugar takes salty-sweet to new heights.
• Strawberry: Natural ingredients in this traditional hand-crafted flavor are bursting with real strawberry flavors and colors.
• Chocolate Cocoa Bean: Chocolate lovers will enjoy savoring this rich, tasty flavor made with organically-processed cocoa.

This Naturals line contains no artificial colors or flavors of any kind. The look and taste is derived solely from familiar ingredients like milk, cream, cane sugar, strawberries, vanilla, organic cocoa and other real ingredients. It’s cane sugar that makes Naturals sweet – not corn syrup or high-fructose corn syrup.

“Hudsonville Ice Cream partners with family-owned and operated dairy farms of the Michigan Milk Producers Association to ensure the milk and cream used in Naturals is as fresh as possible,” Sierengowski says. “In fact, the milk we use travels less than an hour from the farm to our facility.”

You can taste that freshness in all of the company’s products. It harkens back to a simpler time, when ice cream socials were more prevalent than flash mobs. In fact, the Hudsonville story starts over a century ago with a group of local farmers who were looking for a better way to sell their dairy products. They banded together to form a co-op and chose their first location on Chicago Drive in Hudsonville, Michigan, and the rest is history.