It’s an hour before the weekend’s big game. The weather is cold. Students and their dads are looking for someplace warm, something to do and, more than likely, anything to eat.

On-campus provider of cheese and ice cream, Ferdinand’s Ice Creamery, is generally open from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and closed on the weekends.

However, Ferdinand’s will extend its services for the first four hours before a home-game kickoff.

Known for their Cougar Gold cheese, Ferdinand’s also provides other varieties of cheese such as Cracked Chive Pepper, Viking Ghost Pepper and other types of cheddar and monterey.

Ferdinand’s Supervisor Eric Needham said he doesn’t entirely understand what makes their cheese stand out from so many others. However, he does attribute all distinguishing qualities to the freshness of the ingredients used and the culture of the cheese itself.

“All of the dairy we use in our ice cream and cheese comes from local dairy cows,” he said. “Most of it is provided right on campus.”

Throughout the course of a year, cheese is constantly produced at a steady rate. Ice cream, on the other hand, fluctuates seasonally.

“During the fall we make cheese every day and actually double the amount on Monday,” Production Supervisor John Levi said. “We make ice cream once a week, sometimes twice during the summer because it’s higher in demand.”

A large part of the success surrounding Ferdinand’s production process can be attributed to the large quantity of student workers on staff, Needham said.

“The students do everything,” Needham said. “From picking the milk to culturing the cheese to cleaning it … they’re in control from the beginning to the end.”

For Needham, that’s important, because that is the main purpose of Ferdinand’s existence.

“We’re an extension of the food science education department,” he said. “Having an ice creamery is really a great way to introduce people to our department. We’re here to provide for the students, the community and research purposes.”

Ferdinand’s provides students seeking professional experience in the food industry an outlet through internships, work study and employment.

“We prefer to give real world experience … to help secure jobs before students graduate,” Levi said. “So we can be picky and only want to hire those majoring in this field. But we do hire people of all types. Those studying nutrition, business and management all have a chance to work here.”