Cincinnati-based Graeter’s Ice Cream has won the first-ever Dairy Foods Product of the Year for its Skyline Spice Ice Cream. The award honors the best new dairy product introduced from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025.

This represents the only Dairy Foods award voted upon by the readers. During a 31-day voting period from Aug. 1 to 31, 8,205 votes were cast, and Graeter’s impressively earned 42% of the total vote. Fifteen nominees vied for the prize.

Rounding out the top five in terms of votes were:

    2. Dairy Farmers of America’s TruMoo Zero Whole Chocolate Milk (17% of the vote)

    3. Sargento Natural America Cheese (12%)

    4. Hiland Dairy ProPack Snack (11%)

    5. Smearcase Frozen Cottage Cheese Ice Cream (4%)

Richard Graeter, CEO of Graeter’s Ice Cream, stresses Skyline Spice Ice Cream, despite what some think, does not have chili in it. “It is the chili spice, the special spice that makes Skyline Chili the Cincinnati icon it currently is,” he says. “It exceeded all of our wildest dreams and expectations, mainly because it is a great flavor. It is not a crazy novelty or mashup.”

The spices are a key component of the ice cream. “When you add that, it makes it a fun flavor profile. And we also added oyster crackers,” the CEO notes. “In Cincinnati, you always need oyster crackers, and they provide a great crunchy add in. The flavor is just fun!”

The idea for Skyline Chili Spice Ice Cream came to Graeter after he heard about a mashup another ice brand was planning to release. “I said in jest, ‘That would be like us making Skyline Chili Ice Cream. Ha ha.’ But as soon as the words left my mouth, I thought wait a minute,” he recalls.

Graeter knows the owners of Skyline Chili and started discussing the idea with them. “Everyone we talked to thought it could be interesting. ‘Let’s give it a try.’” After the Graeter’s Flavor Team got involved, the CEO knew he might have a hit.

“Skyline Chili brought the secret spice under lock and key and the Flavor Team got to work. We made some iterations I would say might not have been as successful had we released it. We originally considered cheese — also a Cincinnati icon — but it did not work. The flavor we settled on tasted really good,” Graeter relays.

The executive expected the ice cream to be successful — at least early on after release — because he expected the flavor to pique consumers’ interest and be something they had to try once.

“But when they actually tried it, they were stunned at how good it was. It started receiving all this buzz. People started taking videos of it on social media and it took on a life of its own,” Graeter stresses. “Its success was based upon a few things, including the mashup idea, two Cincinnati icons, and the fun component. But a big part of the success was that the flavor really delivered.”

From idea to fruition

The time from idea conception to officially selling the product at stores took approximately two and a half years, according to Graeter. Often with new collaboration product launches, legal issues can be an obstacle. However, working with Skyline Chili required old-fashioned sit-down dinners as both businesses are family owned.

“The prime goal was not to make a billion dollars. It was about having fun and bringing exposure to both of our brands. We certainly met that goal, as by last count, we had some 13 billion impressions on social media,” Graeter reveals. “What we got was great engagement with both of our loyal customer bases. Guests in Cincinnati are often taken to Skyline first and Graeter’s for dessert.”

Much harder than working out a legal arrangement was coming up with the Skyline Chili Ice Cream flavor, Graeter maintains. “I am not sure how many iterations of the flavor we did, but there were a bunch. It took awhile to come out with the product because we were committed to putting out a flavor people would love,” he says. “It was attention grabbing.”

The limited-edition product was so popular that people would have parties centered around the product. “It brought people together. It put a big smile on everyone’s face, and it was fun,” Graeter notes.

Triumphant return

Consumers love the limited-edition ice cream so much that Graeter’s executives are frequently asked when Skyline Spice Ice Cream will return. So, will the product return to Graeter’s stores?

Dairy Foods earned the scoop that Graeter’s will bring back Skyline Spice Ice Cream on a limited basis this month. The launch coincides with October’s National Chili Month.

“The fall is a great time for its return because you want something with warm spices. Of course, Skyline is always a big item when people watch football as well,” Graeter states.

The CEO also stresses that the success of the Skyline Chili Ice Cream spans way beyond Cincinnati. “We knew it would be successful in Cincinnati because people love both brands. What was really surprising to me was how successful it was for people outside of Cincinnati. We ship ice cream direct to consumers on Graeters.com. Often when we have a special flavor, we ship one pallet of ice cream to people throughout the country. For this flavor, we shipped six pallets.”

Graeter continues that the six-pallet figure is even more impressive as the ice cream was sold during the middle of winter, traditionally a tougher time for ice cream sales. “Even the (NFL’s) Kelce brothers had a spat about it,” Graeter says fondly. “Travis said he would not eat it, but (brother) Jason said, ‘Heck yeah! Come on, you should try it.’”

Upon hearing news of its 2025 Dairy Foods Product of the Year victory, Graeter reveals the entire team was excited. “It was a fun project for our team and team members really got into it. Our team had a blast coming up with all the flavor iterations,” Graeter concludes. “I also spoke to our retail store team, and they told me the consumer reaction was great.” DF