From Indiana to Pomona to Win Gold

This wasn’t just the year of the summer olympics – dairy products vied for gold right here at the LA County Fair! The Fair annually judges dairy products – the in yogurt, ice cream, etc. – and this year it wasn’t a local that took the gold for frozen custard. Rick and Paulette Lodde, owners of Snowbear Frozen Custard in Lafayette, Indiana, took two golds and a silver (vanilla, chocolate and strawberry, respectively). This is the first time they’ve entered the LA County Fair’s dairy products contest, prompted by the Fair’s Culinary Styles coordinator George Geary. The Loddes have taken several of George’s cooking classes.
Snowbear is a mainstay in Lafayette, having been started by Rick’s grandparents in the 1930s. Frozen custard is like a premium ice cream – it’s smoother, creamier. Rick said the closest thing to it is homemade ice cream. It’s popular in the midwest. Axl Rose, a native of Lafayette, is still a big fan of Snowbear and the Loddes ship it to him whenever he wants it. And they can ship it here to California if you’d like to try some.