Twelve years ago, a wild idea popped into Alexis Negranti’s head: Was it possible to turn sheep’s milk into ice cream?

Sheep cheeses — including Manchego, Pecorino Romano and feta — were growing in popularity in the U.S market. But ice cream? Although she had never heard of someone making sheep’s milk ice cream, the concept of starting a sheep dairy and creamery appealed to Negranti, marrying her love for animals with her passion for high-quality, delicious food.

After a deeper research dive, Negranti found that companies were making sheep’s milk ice cream in New Zealand and Europe, but she couldn’t find anyone who had produced it in the U.S. for retail or wholesale. Negranti saw it as a gap she could fill.

When she first shared the idea with her husband, Wade, she recalls he thought it was crazy.

“We didn’t have an ounce of dairy experience,” she said.

Wade raised cattle in Central California, but neither he nor Alexis had ever milked an animal before, much less invented a new kind of ice cream.

Alexis Negranti, however, was determined, and a month later, she and her husband drove 18 hours to buy a starter flock of ewes from a breeder in Arizona. Wade Negranti built a dairy out of a cargo container, the pair milked their first sheep in 2011, and Alexis Negranti set to work inventing ice cream recipes and experimenting with new flavors.

Today, Negranti Creamery’s products are a hit among consumers. The company, which started with one small ice cream shop in Paso Robles, Calif., now has three scoop shops in Central California and one in Boise. Within the next eight months, the creamery plans to open two more shops: another near Boise and one in Tennessee, where Negranti’s family recently relocated from California.

The family also runs an ice cream catering truck and sells ice cream online.

Watching the business and consumer interest in sheep’s milk grow has been “extremely exciting,” Negranti said.

Negranti Creamery targets customers who care about healthy eating or are sensitive to cow milk. Many people with cow milk allergies find goat and sheep milk easier to digest and often prefer the taste and creaminess of sheep ice cream over alternative plant-based ice creams.

The creamery’s high-end products are also popular among health-conscious consumers because the business uses mainly whole ingredients with limited processing or additives.

The creamery’s two most popular ice cream flavors are salted brown sugar and strawberry basil.

As the business grew in recent years, Negranti said it became difficult to balance running both the farm and creamery. So, she sold her flock and decided to source milk from other sheep farms, allowing her to focus on ice cream production and marketing.

Negranti has sourced milk from the West Coast, including Oregon, and is open to working with more dairy sheep farms, especially those with Lacaune and East Friesen breeds or crosses.

In 2021, the creamery used about 75,000 pounds of sheep’s milk to make ice cream. This year, the creamery is using 90,000 pounds. In 2023, Negranti predicts the creamery will need 120,000 pounds.

“One of our core values is supporting American farmers and ranchers and American-made goods,” said Negranti.

Sheep dairy farmers interested in selling milk to Negranti Creamery can email alexis@negranticreamery.com or call (805)-801-3847.