Just a couple blocks off Dallas’ Main Street is an unexpected but sweet addition to the town’s dessert scene: Dreamies Creamery, a local sheep’s milk ice cream trailer.
The bright pastel stand is adorned with flowers, punny signage and tables with umbrellas.
The creamery and ice cream operation are owned by two generations of the Thackeray family, mother Julie Thackeray, her daughter, Maria Burton, and daughter-in-law, Allison Thackeray.
While the ice cream trailer opened earlier this month, the business is just over nine months in the making.
Dreamies Creamery is a direct farm to ice cream stand, as the creamery pasteurizes the sheep’s milk, makes the ice cream mix and then the ice cream itself.
“We chose sheep’s milk because we love it for so many reasons,” Allison said. “It’s super beneficial to your health — it’s a super food, has double the calcium (compared to cow milk) but similar taste, and you can actually taste the difference. It’s a great base product to make things out of.”
A family affair
The idea for creating a sheep’s milk ice cream stand was spurred after several family conversations.
The women attribute Ben Thackeray (Julie’s husband) as the “brainchild” behind the recipes, as he and Julie ran an ice cream shop 30 years ago in California before the family moved to Oregon.
The ice cream trailer is parked in the Crystal Creek lot, where Allison and Burton’s kids can be seen eating ice cream or going between Dreamies’ outside seating and Crystal Creek, the contracting company for servicing dairy companies owned by the women’s husbands.
Though the trio are the owners of the ice cream trailer, they said it is a family affair with the support they get from Ben, Tyler (the eldest Thackeray son) and Tom Burton (son-in-law). Allison said it’s been helpful that they were able to receive some help networking because of their husbands’ expertise in the field.
Dreamies Creamery and Crystal Creek have a lot of overlap because of the folks behind them, but the creamery is a separate entity and run only by the women of the Thackeray family, Allison said.
“(Working with family) has its ups and downs and you have to work at it,” Julie said. “We’ve learned a lot from the other family business, and with working together about what makes it work and the pitfalls to avoid.”
Women in business
The creamery’s name is something the women went back and forth on, going between goofy names before settling on Dreamies. They chose to use dreams as a way to reference counting sheep and eventually getting good dreams.
“We wanted to have the connection that all of us have come into this with different reasons to accomplish our own dreams and the dreams of others too,” Allison said.
Prior to this, the three were stay-at-home moms for the past 11 years.
“We’re excited about the ice cream, our entrepreneurship and this opportunity we get to empower women,” Allison said. “It’s a big part of our business, supporting other women. So we hope to grow in other opportunities as we grow as a company.”
To crowdfund and start the ice cream stand, the women sold shirts with the logo and homemade sheep keychains. Now, they sell the shirts in the three colors of the business: dandelion yellow, toned-down bubble gum pink and minty green.
“The support from the community has actually been overwhelmingly positive, and we’re trying to figure out how to catch up from it all,” Allison said.
Since the family has been a part of the Dallas community for over two decades, the women said they were happy to be able to bring this to life.
“It helps we’ve been very involved in our community, from schools, sports, business, personally,” Allison said. “We had a line of customers across the parking lot our first day, and even though Dallas is a small community and had folks doubting they would support it, we received lots of community support and we hope to continue to grow.”
Dreamy dairy treats
Dreamies offers eight flavors with more in the works. Offerings include chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, “c’ewe’kies” and cream, maple bacon, caramel crunch, mint chip and cup of joe.
The ice cream is dye and gluten free, and because it is made with sheep’s milk, it does not contain lactose.
The ice cream is slightly creamier than standard cow’s milk ice cream, but it does melt a bit faster. There is no specific taste that lends itself into being made from a different type of milk, like goat’s milk, so the flavors are true to their descriptions. Allison said the community favorite has been caramel crunch so far, with cup of joe a close contender.
Ice cream is also available to purchase in half pints for $4.99 and pints for $7.99.
“We have lots of ambitions and goals and are excited to see where this adventure gets us,” Allison said. “We know we’re starting slow with limited hours and in the works to expand, but we’re focusing on making a quality product first.”
To keep up with Dreamies Creamery, follow their Facebook page.
Address: 486 SE Mill St., Dallas
Em Chan covers food and dining at the Statesman Journal. You can reach her atechan@statesmanjournal.com, follow her on Twitter @catchuptoemilyor see what she’s eating on Instagram @sikfanmei.ah.
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