Who makes Kirkland Signature Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream, 64 fl oz, 2-count?
Confirmed Directly named for this product
Manufactured by
Humboldt Creamery (a Crystal Creamery / Foster Farms Dairy brand since 2009)
Citable fact
As of September 28, 2026, the manufacturer of Kirkland Signature Super Premium Vanilla Ice Cream, 64 fl oz, 2-count is Humboldt Creamery (a Crystal Creamery / Foster Farms Dairy brand since 2009), per on-label, first-party, or executive statement evidence.
The common claim vs. the evidence
The common claim
What’s commonly claimed, and what the evidence supports
Top-ranking answers name Humboldt Creamery, and the evidence supports them, but nearly all of them rely on one recycled 2006 quote from the creamery's former CEO and miss both the ownership change (Humboldt Creamery has been a Crystal Creamery / Foster Farms Dairy brand since the August 2009 bankruptcy auction that followed a CEO fraud scandal) and the registry-based check that actually ties today's tub to the plant: plant code 06-1187, printed on the tub, resolves to Crystal Creamery Inc. DBA Humboldt Creamery in Fortuna, California on FDA's Interstate Milk Shippers list.
The sources
Evidence & sources
Each source is graded on the six-tier evidence rubric, where tier 1 is strongest. Sources are archived, so a citation still works if the original page moves or goes behind a paywall.
Tier 4
Executive statement directly naming the link. Q&A with Humboldt Creamery CEO Rich Ghilarducci: 'Is Costco's Premium Vanilla Ice Cream made by Humboldt Creamery? Yes, it's in every one of their stores [in] the United States... It all comes out of the plant here at Fernbridge.' Also the origin of the widely recycled quote that Costco 'want[s] all their ice cream in any of their product lines in the United States to come from milk out of Humboldt County.'
Tier 4
Indirect but format-exact, post-ownership-change: plant profile (plant manager Mike Callihan) describes the Fortuna plant's lines filling '64-ounce paper scrounds' for 'a private label customer... who sells a box of two half-gallon packages' — the exact Kirkland Super Premium retail format — without naming Costco. Also documents 'Crystal Creamery bought Humboldt Creamery in 2009,' establishing who holds the contract post-bankruptcy.
Tier 6
Recency corroboration alongside the tier-4 anchor (batteries pattern): documents 'Plant 06-1187' printed on the bottom of the current tub, resolving to Humboldt Creamery. Unlike the same blog's Greek-yogurt claim, the code is actually shown here — it is the current-production link between today's tub and the Fernbridge plant. Registry resolution of the code (corroboration; the IMS row itself never names Kirkland): CA Interstate Milk Shippers list carries 'CRYSTAL CRY INC DBA HUMBOLDT CRY, FORTUNA' as plant 06-1187 (https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/ims/mkex/ims/imssl-pa.cfm?state=CA; archived https://web.archive.org/web/20260705193417/https://www.hfpappexternal.fda.gov/scripts/ims/mkex/ims/imssl-pa.cfm?state=CA). The chain earns tier 3 once the tub code is verified first-hand.
Past makers
Manufacturer history
An attribution goes out of date when a supplier changes. We date each change and keep the earlier source.
| Period | Manufacturer | What the record says | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Present | Humboldt Creamery (a Crystal Creamery / Foster Farms Dairy brand since 2009)Current | Current attribution (confirmed). See the evidence above. | Evidence ↑ |
| … → August 2009 | Humboldt Creamery Association (farmer-owned cooperative) | The independent co-op made the Kirkland tub from at least November 2006 (CEO interview; start date not publicly confirmed). After CEO Rich Ghilarducci's abrupt February 2009 resignation, a book-cooking scandal that ended in his federal fraud conviction, and Chapter 11, Foster Farms Dairy (Crystal Creamery) bought the assets at the August 2009 bankruptcy auction. The brand, the Fernbridge plant, and — per the 2016 trade profile and the 06-1187 code on current tubs — the Costco production all continued under the new owner. | North Coast Journal ↗ |
People also ask
Frequently asked
Who makes Kirkland Signature vanilla ice cream?
It is manufactured by Humboldt Creamery at the Fernbridge plant near Fortuna, California, per the creamery CEO's 2006 North Coast Journal interview ('Yes... It all comes out of the plant here at Fernbridge') and the plant code printed on the tub: Plant 06-1187 resolves to Crystal Creamery Inc. DBA Humboldt Creamery, Fortuna on FDA's Interstate Milk Shippers list. Humboldt Creamery has been a brand of Crystal Creamery (Foster Farms Dairy) since 2009.
Did the maker change after Humboldt Creamery's 2009 bankruptcy?
The plant did not change, but its owner did. Humboldt Creamery was an independent farmer co-op when its CEO resigned in February 2009 amid a book-cooking scandal that ended in a federal fraud conviction; the co-op went through Chapter 11 and Foster Farms Dairy (Crystal Creamery) bought the assets at auction in August 2009. A 2016 Dairy Foods plant profile shows the same Fernbridge lines still filling 64-ounce containers boxed two half-gallons at a time for a private-label customer, and the 06-1187 code on current tubs still points to the same plant.
How can I verify who makes it on my own tub?
Check the two-part dairy plant code printed near the bottom of the tub. On tubs documented in 2024 it reads 06-1187: 06 is California's state prefix and 1187 is the plant number, which FDA's Interstate Milk Shippers list assigns to Crystal Creamery Inc. DBA Humboldt Creamery in Fortuna. If your tub ever shows a different code, the maker has changed — that is exactly the kind of change this site tracks.
Is Kirkland Super Premium vanilla the same as Humboldt Creamery brand ice cream?
Both come out of the same Fernbridge, California plant, and the 2006 interview says Costco chose the plant for its Humboldt County milk. Whether the Kirkland formula matches any Humboldt-branded product is not publicly documented — the plant runs separate organic (Humboldt label) and conventional private-label lines, per the 2016 Dairy Foods profile.
Prefer the name brand? Häagen-Dazs Vanilla Ice Cream The closest name-brand equivalent to this Kirkland Signature product.
Get notified when a Kirkland manufacturer changes
Suppliers change without announcement. Sign up to get an email when we log a new maker for a Kirkland product.
Change-log newsletter · no spam · unsubscribe anytime.