07/19/2021
There’s a sweet treat in store for SUNY Cortland students when they return to campus this fall: Red Dragon’s Delight ice cream, the university’s very own flavor creation.
The signature ice cream product, produced locally by Cornell Dairy, includes three key components: a chocolate ice cream base, marshmallow swirls and caramel cubes. It will be served at Neubig Dining and the Bistro Off Broadway, where students can use their unlimited meal plans, and the ice cream also will be available for purchase in individual Cortland-themed containers across campus.
“We wanted this to be local and high-quality,” said Jeff Scott, director of dining services for Cortland Auxiliary Services. “We’re always trying to bring global inspiration and locally connected ingredients into our menus and programs, and this ice cream project is a fun example of that.”
The idea for the Cortland-specific product was born roughly a year ago after staff members from the university’s dining services team toured the Cornell Dairy production facilities, which Scott described as state-of-the-art.
“What we love about this ice cream is that we know exactly where it comes from,” Scott said. “Cornell Dairy is 20 or so miles from campus and its products are world-class. The freshness, the shelf life, the quality … everything is at the highest end of the range.”
Four multi-ingredient ice cream options were drafted by the dining services team then proposed to SUNY Cortland students through a survey. More than 400 responses came in, and Scott said the favorite recipe was clear.
In addition to perfecting the ice cream’s ingredients, Cortland Auxiliary staff members also gave thought to details such as name and presentation. Individual container labels of Red Dragon’s Delight include SUNY Cortland’s secondary mark and an image of Old Main, the university’s iconic academic building.
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| Individual containers of Red Dragon’s Delight ice cream will be available to purchase in campus dining facilities. |
“The process involved a series of conversations and great collaboration with our dairy partners as well as our campus partners to get it to the finish line,” Scott said. “The spirit and the enthusiasm were great, and we see this a model for other programs we can work on.”
Faculty and staff members were treated to a soft launch of sorts at SUNY Cortland’s first “Scoops of Gratitude” employee appreciation event outside Corey Union on July 14. Two additional summer ice cream socials are planned for the campus community, on Wednesday, July 21, at Brockway Hall and Wednesday, July 28, at the Student Life Center, both from 1:30 to 3 p.m.
Scott said plans are in the works for a similar free food festival early in fall semester for students, where they can sample the new ice cream along with Chick-N-Bap, the university’s Korean-inspired street food offering, as well as tacos from Cortland Auxiliary Services’s new Red Dragon Wagon food truck.
“We want students to know that they have a ton of menu options at SUNY Cortland,” he said. “We want them to see all of the variety and choices.”