Making the world a little "sweeter".
A CALIFORNIA, HERITAGE BRAND
Founded in Santa Barbara in 1949, we are a company built on deliciousness, obsessed with quality, and united by a simple goal: to spread joy.
THE OLD DAIRY
For decades, McConnell's home - where milk and cream from its herd of Jersey/Holstein cows, grazing just east of town, were crafted into butter, yogurt, cottage cheese, and, of course, ice cream.
McC's Family Dairy
Most ice cream companies never touch a cow, walk a pasture, or even make ice cream — they hire other companies to do the hard work (it's called co-manufacturing, aka "co-packing"). Not us. We make our ice creams, and nearly everything that goes into them — cookies, brownies, jams, preserves, swirls, ribbons — 100% from scratch.
THE FINEST ICE CREAMS
We own the dairy. We choose the ingredients, the recipes and the standards. And we make our ice creams from scratch. No shortcuts. No question marks. Since 1949.
1949
Our beginnings...
McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams was founded by husband and wife, Gordon “Mac” and Ernesteen McConnell, in Santa Barbara, California in 1949. The couple had recently relocated to California’s Central Coast, and Mac - who’d owned some of the country’s original health food stores throughout the 1930’s - was looking for an idea. An ice cream fanatic, he found it one night in a bowl of vanilla ice cream.
America’s post war “industrial food complex” was taking off. Everything was bigger, faster and cheaper. Ice cream, along with practically every other food, was - and still is - filled with artificial flavors, colorings, sweeteners, fillers and preservatives.
Mac and Ernie wanted none of it. They’d make their ice creams 100% from scratch. No compromises. They sourced their ingredients locally, accessing Central Coast farms for their year ‘round, seasonal ingredients, including local dairy, fruit, nuts and produce. They made their own jams and caramels and baked their own inclusions. And they flat-out rejected the fillers, stabilizers and preservatives everybody else was using. Their company would produce “the finest ice creams in the world.”
1962
The salad days.
McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams was an immediate success, and for over a decade, customers lined-up at the store’s original location, on Mission and State Streets, in downtown Santa Barbara.
In 1962, with Gordon’s untimely passing, Ernesteen sold McConnell’s to local Santa Barbarans, Jim and Jeney McCoy. Over the next decades, the McCoy Family expanded McConnell’s distribution throughout Southern California.
2012
McC's next generation.
In 2012, after 63 years in business, McConnell’s transitioned to its third generation of family ownership, when Santa Barbarans Michael Palmer and Eva Ein took the reins (he’s a branding exec/winemaker, she’s a chef/restaurateur).
Inspired by the company’s heritage and its product's enduring quality, the Ein-Palmer’s - long-time McConnell’s superfans - recognized a rare opportunity to build on a decades-in-the-making legacy.
It was a tall order. The Old Dairy - along with much of its equipment - was well past its prime. As fantastic an opportunity as McConnell’s was, it was time for this mid-20th century company to reinvent itself for the 21st.
The Ein-Palmers went to work, and obsessed over every detail, from ingredients to recipes, to research & development, manufacturing, packaging design, marketing... New flavors and products were developed and launched into a growing, national list of grocery and specialty stores.
2013
Sixty-three years in, McC's returns to State St.
In 2013, McConnell’s opened its first, new scoop shop in decades, less than a mile from Mac and Ernie’s original store.
In the years since, McConnell’s has continued to grow in size and scope, adding additional scoop shops and retailers throughout California and beyond.
Throughout it all, McConnell’s has remained dedicated to the same, exacting standards Mac and Ernie established over seven decades ago.
2018
The New Dairy: McC's next chapter.
In 2017, after almost 40 years at The Old Dairy, McC’s embarked on its most ambitious plan to date.
After three years of development and planning, McConnell’s relocated to its brand new, state-of-the-art dairy facility aka The New Dairy.
Complete with a full-sale commercial kitchen and bakery (aka McC’s Bake Room), The New Dairy was designed to carry McConnell’s into the future, continuing a tradition of making not just its ice creams, but virtually everything that goes into them, from delicious inclusions (cookies, brownies, candies) to delectable variegates (fudge sauces, jams, etc.).
2026
Today.
Today, McConnell’s remains a 76-year-old, family-owned and operated dairy and dessert company.
And the products we market - the ones TIME Magazine called “the best in the world” - ice creams, non-dairy frozen desserts, novelties, and a growing range of innovative dairy products - sold in grocery aisles, coast to coast - we continue to make 100% from scratch.
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