The Big Creamery Behind Costco's Kirkland Brand Ice Cream

Costco only sells one flavor of ice cream under the Kirkland Signature brand. But when it's this good, one flavor is all you need. We think Kirkland Signature is one of the best grocery chain ice cream brands around, after all. It'll set you back somewhere around $15 for two ½-gallons, but there's a reason why it's become so popular. The texture is simply outstanding: It's thick, creamy, and buttery, and it manages to make a dessert experience that has (wrongfully) become a byword for "plain" feel rich and substantial. (There's a reason we feel strongly about high quality vanilla ice cream.) The flavor is hardly aggressive, but it doesn't need to be — the texture and mouthfeel are the stars of the show here, and the flavor just enhances it further.

All that ice cream has to come from somewhere, though, and it's not like Costco has a big factory somewhere in Washington pumping out ice cream 24/7. In fact, Costco sources its ice cream from Humboldt Creamery, a dairy company operating in Humboldt County, California that has an interesting history in its own right.

In farming as in real estate, it's all about location. On its "Our Story" page, Humboldt Creamery makes the case that its northern California location is uniquely suitable for a dairy farm. A mild climate and a low water table help keep the grass verdant for their cows to feed upon, low temperature variance makes sure the cows are comfortable in their coats, and frequent flooding and rainfall enrich the soil. On top of that, they preach an ethos of sustainability, letting their cows forge in organic pastures without the use of hormones or GMOs.

The creamery started life as a co-op in 1929. When it was preparing to market nationally in 2008, 75% of it was owned by member farmers, with the remaining 25% coming from the Dairy Farmers of America. Unfortunately, the company was forced to declare bankruptcy the next year, reportedly due to the actions of its then-CEO Rich Ghilarducci who had spent the previous three years allegedly cooking the books. In 2009, Humboldt Creamery was bought up by Crystal Creamery and the Foster family, who, thankfully, have left the company's ethos and taste for excellence untouched — which means Kirkland Signature vanilla ice cream is a great option for homemade ice cream sandwiches.