On June 5, Dairy Foods had the opportunity to enjoy plenty of ice cream and tour Tillamook County Creamery Association’s (TCAA) first ice cream plant outside of its sprawling headquarters in Tillamook, Ore. The new plant in Decatur, Ill., marks an exciting step forward for the 116-year-old farmer-owned co-op’s national expansion plans, said TCCA President and CEO David Booth in welcoming remarks.

Noting that it took tremendous teamwork over a three-year timespan to get to this day — fittingly at the start of National Dairy Month — Booth credited an expansive team of engineers, general contractors and the city of Decatur for their incredible partnership and putting the pillars in place so that Tillamook could be a vibrant part of the community.

lion gallons the first year before ramping up to 15.5 million gallons of ice cream processed annually when the plant is operating at peak capacity,” he continued. “It will drive supply chain efficiency from the plant to a growing footprint of national and regional retail outlets.”

“We are energized by the new opportunities that the Decatur manufacturing plant opens up for our growing customer and consumer base,” Booth said.. “Since 2021, more than 4.4 million consumers have purchased Tillamook Ice Cream, including more than one million new customers enjoying our creamy ice cream in 2024 alone.

“This has led to dollar sales growth of 13% in a single year, and this new state-of-the-art facility will churn out 3 mil-

Mike Bever, TCCA’s executive vice president and chief supply chain officer, told the crowd that it was on July 21, 2022, when he first set foot on the site of the shuttered Prairie Farms’ ice cream production facility.

After a four-hour tour of the 100-year-old plant, Bever noted that while he recognized the amount of work that would need to be done to cut through heavy concrete walls to transform, for example, the breakroom into a beautiful glassed-in facility with natural light, he saw the potential of what could be possible “when the stars aligned.”

Bringing the Tillamook culture to Decatur

Bever and the Tillamook team worked closely with Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolf and Nicole Bateman, president of the Economic Development Corporation (EDC) of Decatur & Macon County, Ill., to bring the revamped plant and the Tillamook culture to Central Illinois.

“We are proud to welcome the Tillamook family to Decatur and to serve as a key location in the company’s growing national presence,” Mayor Moore Wolf said. “The jobs being created and the co-ops early community support reflect the strong alignment between TCCA and our city’s values.”

Bateman also thanked Tillamook for investing in Decatur, stating: “It’s been such a pleasure to work with Tillamook over the past three years to arrive at this special Grand Opening. While we make a lot of products in Decatur, none are as tasty and delicious as ice cream. To have a national brand like Tillamook here is so important and besides the community excitement, we’re excited that Tillamook is leading the way on how to foster an employee culture that makes the entire community better.”

In alignment with the co-op’s commitment to enriching the Decatur community, TCCA, in partnership with a matching $25,000 from JP Cullen, the plant’s general contractor, donated $50,000 to support important local Decatur initiatives. They are:

• $20,000 to the Decatur Park District to sponsor local youth recreation and community events like the Ice Cream Safari at the Scovill Zoo and Trees on the Tees.
• $20,000 to support food security efforts of the Good Samaritan Inn. The nonprofit plans to expand its urban food garden from one acre to five acres to bring more fresh produce to those in need.
• $5,000 to the Northeast Community Fund to support food security efforts and its Farm to Fund event (Sept. 27, 2025).
• $5,000 to Macon County Fair to support the livestock and open class shows.

Under the leadership of Ruben Urrutia, director of plant operations, Decatur, 50 workers from Decatur (population 70,552) will be hired as production scales. To learn more about the Tillamook ice cream production process, the milk shed and more, watch the “Inside the Plant” video.

Prior to guided tours through the plant, instead of a tradition ribbon-cutting, the event featured a “first scoops” ice cream tasting and plenty of Tillamook ice cream, cheese, cream cheese and more for guests to enjoy.

Even the falling rain couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm of Tillamook leadership speaking to the media. “Our vision is to become a beloved premium dairy brand that people can access everywhere, every day,” Booth concluded. “Decatur isn’t just where we’re making more ice cream — it’s where we’re building new community partnerships, supporting revitalization and laying the groundwork for Tillamook’s future growth. We want to be part of every community we operate in, quite honestly, and this is just a proud day for everyone.” DF