Well, my quest for the perfect cookies and cream continues, and it comes from yet another regional chain: Meijer. More specifically, it’s from Purple Cow – their own private label ice cream brand – which was clearly named under the influence of hallucinogens.
As stupid as the name sounds (and is), one memory I have from childhood is grabbing a couple scoops, or a milkshake, or some other kind of sweet treat, directly from Meijer’s in-house ice cream shop; a reward both for surviving church, as well as the long grocery shopping session that inevitably followed. It was a drab area, sandwiched between the deli and bakery (if I remember correctly), but they sold ice cream treats using their own brand, presumably to show people how good it was. Honestly, it had to have been brilliant marketing for them – if customers liked it they could be pointed to the frozen food section to get their very own carton – but somewhere along the lines, some boring marketing moron decided that Meijer shouldn’t have anything that sets them apart from all the other large department store chains, and they were removed.
That trip down memory lane leads back to the present day, where all paths from the past inevitably lead to. And now it’s time to focus on the question at hand: How does Purple Cow ice cream stack up to the competition? I mean, it’s pretty rare that a private label brand has such a storied history, but are their products solely good based on nostalgia? Or is there a more specific reason – such as quality – that explains how they’ve managed to stick around for so long?
The immediate first impression that I have: All that storied history must come at a price, because Purple Cow comes in on the higher end of store brand retail prices. Each carton costs a rather excessive $3.29 (when not on sale), which is about the same price you can get premium brands on sale for. It’s not as egregious as, say, United Dairy Farmers and their $3.99 cartons, but at least UDF has the excuse that they are sold in convenience stores. I’m sure Meijer offers these on sale occasionally, but the times we’ve grabbed some, they haven’t been.
Now, let’s finally crack things open and take a look inside: The texture is soft and rich, perhaps just a pace or two behind Walmart’s chart-topping effort. Just from a quick glance at the top of the carton, there seems to be a generous amount of cookies spread throughout. The chunks seem to be mostly small to medium in size, which kind of reduces the excitement of finding a large piece that threatens to bend your spoon. But that’s just a minor quibble, because the amount of cookie makes up for it.
This is, though, another one of those “c and c” ice creams where the ice cream itself doesn’t stand out much on its own; there are just enough cookie pieces to really take away the focus on the plain ice cream, and instead turn your attention to just how many mix-ins there are. Don’t get me wrong, the overall flavor is as expected, with the familiar taste of chocolate sandwich cookies permeating most spoonfuls. But the plain ice cream comes across to me as more of a slightly-altered vanilla, rather than one that tastes strongly of “cream”. (An alarming trend across virtually all ice cream brands, both premium and private label.)
Regardless of these minor issues, Purple Cow’s cookies and cream manages to take a place near the top of similar store branded flavors. It’s just a shame that the price is quite a bit higher than other store brands.
Overall: 8/10. Tastewise, this stands near the top of the private label cookies and cream ice creams that I’ve tried. It has a nice, soft texture, a generous amount of cookie chunks, and a flavor that, while expected and nothing new, still manages to be rich and inviting. However, the $3.29 retail price feels a little excessive for a store brand, and that certainly knocks it down a couple notches. Still, if you don’t mind paying near-premium prices for a private label ice cream, this one does manage to be one of the top efforts.
