MERIDIAN, Idaho — Reed's Dairy has been serving Idaho families for over 70 years, and the Meridian location at Chinden and Linder Roads is giving locals even more opportunities for free ice cream.
Sam Reed, chief operations officer at Reed's Dairy, runs the family business that traces back to a dairy farm in Idaho Falls. The company has since expanded across the state, with 3 stores in the Treasure Valley.
The Meridian location offers 24 ice cream flavors alongside a cooler stocked with locally made dairy products — including raw and pasteurized milk, cheese curds, and farm-fresh eggs.
WATCH | Reed's Dairy will be serving up some of these scoops for FREE this Thursday
Sam Reed, the chief operations officer at Reed's Dairy, explained how local sourcing is central to how Reed's operates.
"As much as we can, we try to use all local products," Reed said. "The sugar that we use in all of our products is grown here in Idaho, so 95% of the ingredients that are in our ice cream is all from right here, grown in Idaho."
While Reed's is known for its award-winning ice cream, one product stands out as a uniquely Idaho offering: its chocolate milk, made with a special ingredient
"We actually had an ice cream that used potato flakes in it and then the chocolate milk, but the chocolate milk is the one that kind of...kind of stuck," Reed said.
Customers like Veronica Martinez make regular trips to the shop for more than just ice cream.
"Mostly I come in for the eggs because they're farm-grown, without preservatives, and the animals aren't grazed on corn," Martinez said. "It's sweet and the people here are very nice and they have many flavors and it's kind of a family-oriented type of ice cream parlor. So you sit here with your whole family and enjoy ice cream."
From classic vanilla to creative options like grasshopper ice cream, new flavors rotate into the lineup every day.
Reed's Dairy will serve free scoops at the Meridian Dairy Days Ice Cream Social in Storey Park on Thursday, June 25, starting at 5 p.m. You can find out more about the Meridian Dairy Days on Idaho News 6's event guide.
This story was initially reported by a journalist and has been, in part, converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
