Kingdom Creamery of Vermont, the largest supplier of Vermont-made creemee mix, has been forced to slash production following the late-July detention of three of its migrant workers by U.S. Border Patrol. Even as summer winds down, the supply interruption has left many creemee stand operators scrambling.
“Our farm is experiencing a severe labor shortage due to the detention of employees,” said Leslie Michaud, co-owner of the East Hardwick creamery and its associated 700-cow farm. Michaud, 50, told Seven Days that the immigration enforcement action — first reported by the Hardwick Gazette on August 4 — resulted in the deportation of the three detained and precipitated further debilitating workforce losses when additional employees left “out of fear.” She declined to specify the total number of departures but said, “We have lost a significant part of our farm and creamery workforce and have not been able to replace them.”
The result, Michaud continued, is that Kingdom Creamery ice cream mixes and its own ice cream line are currently being made only on “a limited basis.” Hiring efforts have so far been fruitless, she said, and she does not know when production will return to normal.
Michaud; her husband, Jeremy; and their four sons were able to limp along for a few weeks, she said. But in August, when one son returned to high school and another to college, the family had to prioritize cow care over ice cream production with its limited labor pool.
“It’s been extremely challenging from all angles,” Michaud said.
Kingdom Creamery supplies almost every Vermont creemee stand that uses a locally made mix; Miller Farm in Vernon sells an organic creemee mix to a few accounts. The regional alternative comes from HP Hood in Massachusetts.
Holy Halvah owner Rebecca Freedner was expecting her usual Kingdom Creamery order last week for her seasonal Bristol creemee shop and was not happy with the surprise substitute provided by her distributor.
To wrap up the summer, Freedner drove more than 60 miles to pick up 80 gallons of Miller Farm mix. Even though the organic dairy’s product is 75 percent more expensive than Kingdom’s, Freedner said, she did not plan to increase prices for her final two weekends of the year.
In Montpelier, Red Hen Baking co-owner Randy George said his team first heard about the shortage a couple weeks ago but was able to find some Kingdom Creamery supply through a different distributor. Last week, when there was none to be found anywhere, George said they reluctantly substituted Hood.
“We considered suspending creemees as a statement about what is going on in this country and how the effects of ICE’s actions can ripple through the community,” George said. But he and his wife and co-owner, Eliza Cain, concluded that would lead to employee layoffs at Red Hen, George said, and “cause another kind of harm.”
Jordan Barry and Lucy Tompkins contributed reporting.
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