HOLLAND, Mich.— The cream keeps rising to the top for a regional frozen dessert maker whose humble beginnings started on local dairy farms.

Hudsonville Ice Cream, LLC is undertaking the second expansion of its operation in Holland since 2018.

The $9.8 million investment includes the addition of a 40,000 square foot dry goods warehouse to allow for increased production across the company’s product lines.

“West Michigan has been our home since the very beginning and as we expand availability of Hudsonville Ice Cream to additional states in the Midwest we are deeply committed to investing in our hometown and the facilities where all our innovation, development and production takes place,” said CJ Ellens, one of the owners of the company.

Hudsonville Ice Cream is one of the largest employers in Holland, a community of more than 30,000 residents. City Manager Keith Van Beek said the company also benefits suppliers of the ingredients going into the product and people delivering it to store coolers. “They provide business and use products of a lot of other people here in the region so we appreciate them as a great employer.  We’re thankful for them,” he said. 

A12 year tax abatement on real property going into the expansion will save the company about $1.6 million dollars.

Van Beek said the savings is 50-percent of the property taxes the company would normally pay on the investment but the community gets a lot in return. Van Beek stated,

“We believe it’s a policy that’s good for everyone.”

According to the company, the business was founded as a creamery in 1895 just down the road in Hudsonsville.

It started as a local cooperative of dairy farmers looking for a better way to sell their products and distribute milk.

Ice-cream didn’t start being made until 1926 when the flavors of chocolate, strawberry, vanilla, butter pecan, orange-pineapple and tootie fruity began rolling off the line during the summer.

Dick Hoezee, one of the original coop members, bought the operation in 1930 and moved it to nearby Burnips.

He then streamlined the churning process and made other improvements like adding automated filling machines. 

In 1972, Hoezee sold the company to his four sons who added 50 flavors until 2003 when the business was sold to another Michigan family.

Most recently added to their menu is an “Extra Indulgent” line-up ranging from Cake Batter and Crunchy Peanut to Blueberry Donut.

Hudsonville Ice Cream has a growing presence in the Midwest at store chain like Meijer, Kroger and Jewel-Osco. “The company continues to grow its retailer relationships and has been expanding into more states each year,” Ellens said.

An expansion in 2018 included a new silo alcove, pilot plant and test kitchen used to develop and test new ice cream flavors and products.

According to company officials, the operation purchases its cream from farmers within a 20 to 40-mile radius of the plant.

“Thanks to the company’s consistent investment in their facilities, in their employees and in their relationships with local vendors, Hudsonville Ice Cream is creating ripples of prosperity that extend deep ito our community,” said Jennifer Owens, president of Lakeshore Advantage, the economic development corporation for the region.

Bill Knudson, an agricultural economist at Michigan State University, stated suppliers of cherries, bananas and other ingredients used in the flavors will also benefit from increased production at the plant and so will the market overall for those products. 

“Any time you increase demand for something that’s going to help strengthen the market even if it’s a little bit,” he said.