When Guy Fieri rolled into Kentucky to film his All-American Road Trip television hit earlier this year, he brought his whole entourage. Known for making their way across the U.S. trying different types of food, Fieri and his friends made a pit stop at Chaney’s Dairy Barn in Bowling Green not long ago. The stop included a farm tour and an ice-cream-making contest for an episode that aired earlier this month on the Food Network Channel.
Carl Chaney, owner of Chaney Dairy Farm, says the competition included five families coming up with their own flavor of ice cream and his wife, Debra, got to help judge.
Chaney shared that Fieri told him that his life would really change after this show and Chaney replied, “Our life has already changed.” The Kentucky dairy farmer was referring to the change the family operation has seen since they started making their own ice cream twenty years ago and now has become one of the most popular businesses in Bowling Green.
“We always thought it was so important to educate the consumer,” he says. “My father absolutely loved sitting at the dairy barn, talking to people.”
More than 22,000 people tour Chaney’s Dairy Barn annually. In 2016 they added a Lely robot and gave their barn a boost with updated signage to make the tours even more interactive. The dairy barn serves ice cream that is made on-site, has a full menu for both lunch and dinner, sells local crafts and food and has a playground for children of all ages to enjoy.
On-site, the family makes around 30,000 gallons of ice cream annually. They also have a gift shop, as well as two ice-cream trailers that they take to events like the Kentucky State Fair—all providing multiple revenue streams for the Chaney family. Altogether, the family employs between 45-50 people, including his niece, Dore, who oversees the dairy operation.
Their cows produce around 27,000 lbs. of milk a week and Carl shares they are now at the point where they use every single drop. Their daughter, Elizabeth, is in charge of the milk processing plant.
Bowling Green has grown in more ways than one, Chaney reports. He shares that one of the largest schools in the state of Kentucky went up about 13 years ago, located less than a half of mile from the farm.
“Everyone wants to be in the area,” he says. “Lots of housing development is happening.”
Chaney said he and his family have embraced the growth and believe that Guy Fieri is correct when he said their life is going to change even more.
“We’re going to almost double the size of the ice cream store,” he shares. “Agriculture is going to be everywhere inside of it.”
Last year alone, Chaney shared that they had more than 100,000 transactions last year.
“We had around 500,000 people come through our store,” he says.
He says while his farm has felt the rising cost of inflation, part of their survivability has been all the different profit sources.
“We have an unfair advantage over everybody else,” he says, noting the 100-point perfect scores their milk and ice cream has received in national competitions. “It’s the Jersey milk.”
Chaney’s milk can also be found at over 30 IGA locations, and they are currently in 40 Kroger stores, throughout the state of Kentucky. They also deliver milk to Creation Gardens, which is a restaurant food distributor.
To watch the episode of the All-American Road Trip that features the Chaney family go to: Food Trucks & Fast Cars | Guy’s All-American Road Trip | Food Network
