Turkey Hill (company) facts for kids
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| Industry | Dairy manufacturer |
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| Founded | 1931 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Founder | Armor Frey |
| Headquarters |
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U.S.
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Area served
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Worldwide |
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Key people
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Andy Jacobs (CEO) |
| Products | Beverages, ice cream, frozen desserts |
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Number of employees
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800 |
Turkey Hill Dairy, often called Turkey Hill, is a well-known American company. They make tasty iced tea, ice cream, and other cool drinks and frozen desserts. You can find their products all over the United States and in many other countries! Their main office is in Conestoga, Pennsylvania.
Turkey Hill was part of a bigger company called Kroger from 1985 until 2019. Then, it was sold to a company called Peak Rock Capital. Turkey Hill Dairy works on its own. It's separate from the Turkey Hill Minit Markets. Those are gas station convenience stores that sell Turkey Hill products in Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana.
In 2011, Turkey Hill opened a special place called The Turkey Hill Experience. It's a fun attraction in Columbia, Pennsylvania. Here, you can learn about Turkey Hill's history. You can also see how they make their famous ice cream and iced tea.
Contents
Turkey Hill Dairy's Story
How Turkey Hill Started
Turkey Hill Dairy began in 1931. This was during a tough time called the Great Depression. A farmer named Armor Frey started selling bottled milk to his neighbors. He delivered it right from his car!
Armor's family got their farm a long time ago from the sons of William Penn. The old paper for the farm mentioned "turkeyhill." The Conestoga Indians had named Turkey Hill Ridge because of all the wild turkeys there. So, the family decided to name their dairy after the farm's deed and the nearby hill.
In 1947, Armor sold the dairy to his sons: Glen, Emerson, and Charles Frey. Milking cows and delivering milk helped these three families earn a good living.
Growing Bigger
In 1954, Turkey Hill started making ice cream. It became very popular in Lancaster County. By 1981, they began selling ice cream in a few stores in Philadelphia.
Turkey Hill quickly grew and started selling products in New Jersey and up the East Coast. In the early 2000s, their products reached places like Buffalo, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland. Over the next few years, Turkey Hill expanded even more. Now, their teas are sold in 45 states, and their ice cream is in 43 states!
Who Owns Turkey Hill?
In 1985, the dairy and stores were sold to Dillons, which was part of Kroger. Even with new owners, the Frey family stayed very involved. Charles Frey, Armor Frey's youngest son, remained the president.
In 1991, Quintin Frey (Emerson Frey's son) took over as president. He retired in 2013.
Wind Power for Turkey Hill
In 2011, Turkey Hill teamed up with PPL Renewable Energy. They also worked with the Lancaster County Solid Waste Management Authority. Together, they bought electricity from two large wind turbines.
These turbines are on the Frey Farm landfill, right next to the Turkey Hill factory. The wind turbines can make enough power to supply 25 percent of the company's electricity needs each year! This helps Turkey Hill be more eco-friendly.
Turkey Hill Products
In 2012, Turkey Hill Dairy made a lot of products. They produced about 29 million gallons of frozen dairy dessert. They also made 56.6 million gallons of iced tea and other drinks. Plus, they produced 7.1 million gallons of milk.
Since 2000, Turkey Hill has been one of the top-selling brands of iced tea in stores. In 2011, they were the fourth-largest ice cream maker in the country.
Ice Cream Flavors
Turkey Hill makes 63 different flavors of ice cream, frozen dairy dessert, and sherbet. You can find them in different sizes. They have regular sizes, pint sizes, and even large 3-gallon tubs for ice cream shops!
Their ice cream lines include Premium Ice Cream and All Natural Ice Cream. They also have No Sugar Added options. Frozen dairy dessert is similar to ice cream but uses vegetable oil.
Iced Tea Drinks
The Turkey Hill Iced Tea collection has over 20 flavors. Some are available all year, and some are special seasonal flavors. Their traditional iced teas are bottled cold, shipped cold, and kept cold in stores. This helps keep them fresh and tasty.
Other Beverages
Turkey Hill also makes other drinks. These include fruit drinks like lemonade and fruit punch. They offer different types of milk: fat-free, 1% lowfat, 2% reduced fat, and whole milk. They even have 1% lowfat chocolate milk. During Christmas and Easter, you can find their special egg nog.
Fun Partnerships
Turkey Hill Dairy works with other companies to create unique ice cream flavors. They've partnered with Snyder's of Hanover (pretzels), Gertrude Hawk Chocolates, and Tootsie Roll Industries' Junior Mints. This means you can find ice cream flavors inspired by these yummy treats!
Turkey Hill used to partner with several sports teams. These included the Lancaster Barnstormers, Camden Riversharks, and York Revolution baseball teams.
They also had partnerships with bigger sports teams. These included Major League Soccer's Philadelphia Union, Major League Baseball's Philadelphia Phillies and the New York Yankees. Plus, the National Football League's Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers. For some of these teams, Turkey Hill even made special official team ice cream flavors!
The Turkey Hill Experience
The Turkey Hill Experience is a fun place to visit in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. It's about 17,000 square feet! This attraction celebrates Turkey Hill Dairy's history. It also shows how they make their ice cream and iced tea.
It opened in June 2011. You can find it in Columbia, Pennsylvania, which is about six miles from the main Turkey Hill factory.
What to See and Do
The Turkey Hill Experience has many interactive displays. These are designed to be fun for both kids and adults. You can learn about Turkey Hill Dairy's past. You'll also discover how iced tea and ice cream are made.
One cool activity lets you create your own virtual ice cream flavor! They use special green-screen technology. This even lets you star in a Turkey Hill TV commercial. In June 2013, they opened a new exhibit called the Turkey Hill Taste Lab.
Building's Past
The Turkey Hill Experience is in an old building. It used to be a silk mill, built in 1899. Over the years, the building had different owners and uses. It was empty for more than 25 years before Turkey Hill decided to fix it up.
Two other similar old mill buildings are famous. They are the Ashley and Bailey Company Silk Mill in West York and the Ashley and Bailey Silk Mill in Marietta. Both are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
See also
- Byrne Dairy
- Wawa (company)
