Braum's is an American chain of

ice cream parlor Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard se ...

and

fast food Fast food is a type of mass-produced food designed for commercial resale, with a strong priority placed on speed of service. It is a commercial term, limited to food sold in a restaurant or store with frozen, preheated or precooked ingredie ...

restaurants. Based in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

, Braum's was founded in 1968 by William Henry "Bill" Braum in

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, and ...

. The company operates over 300 restaurants in 5 states, primarily in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, or simply the South) is a geographic and cultural region of the United States of America. It is between the Atlantic Ocean ...

, namely the

West South Central states The West South Central States form one of the nine Census Bureau Divisions of the United States that are officially designated by the United States Census Bureau. Four states compose the division: Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. Texa ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New ...

and

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

History

Braums Sign Kansas Restaurant 2009-09-06

In 1957, William Henry "Bill" Braum (1928–2020) purchased his family's ice cream processing business based in Emporia,

Kansas Kansas () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its Capital city, capital is Topeka, Kansas, Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita, Kansas, Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebras ...

, as well as its "Peter Pan" retail ice cream chain; ten years later, the Peter Pan stores were sold, under the condition that the Braum family would not sell ice cream in Kansas for ten years. Having kept the family dairy herd and ice cream processing business, Braum and his wife Mary started the Braum's chain in 1968 in

, opening 24 stores in

during the first year. Braum's brought products from its Emporia headquarters to Oklahoma for the first few years, later opening facilities in Oklahoma and moving the herd there in 1975. Braum's ran a series of

Ernest P. Worrell Ernest P. Worrell is a fictional character portrayed by American actor Jim Varney in a series of television commercials and later in a television series ('' Hey Vern, It's Ernest!'') as well as a series of feature films. Ernest was created wit ...

television commercials in the 1980s.

Stores

In order to maintain the freshness of its products, the company does not open stores outside of a 300-mile (483 km) radius of the home farm in

Tuttle, Oklahoma Tuttle is a city in Grady County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 6,019 with the close of the 2010 census, seeing a 40.2% increase from 4,294 in 2000. History Located east of the Chisholm Trail, Tuttle was developed as a farming an ...

. As of 2017, there are almost 300 stores in operation, with 128 stores in

, 99 in

, 27 in

and 13 in both

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...

and

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

Products

The restaurants serve

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

frozen yogurt Frozen yogurt (also known as frogurt or by the tradename Froyo; ) is a frozen dessert made with yogurt and sometimes other dairy and non-dairy products. Frozen yogurt is a frozen product containing the same basic ingredients as ice cream, but c ...

hamburgers A hamburger, or simply burger, is a food consisting of fillings—usually a patty of ground meat, typically beef—placed inside a sliced bun or bread roll. Hamburgers are often served with cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, bacon, or c ...

sandwiches A sandwich is a food typically consisting of vegetables, sliced cheese or meat, placed on or between slices of bread, or more generally any dish wherein bread serves as a container or wrapper for another food type. The sandwich began as a po ...

salads A salad is a dish consisting of mixed, mostly natural ingredients with at least one raw ingredient. They are typically served at room temperature or chilled, though some can be served warm. Condiments and salad dressings, which exist in a va ...

and breakfast items. Stores also include a grocery section called the "Fresh Market" featuring

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

products, baked goods, beverages, frozen entrees, meats and produce.FAQ
, Braum's. Accessed on line December 21, 2007.Braum's Ice Cream Co.: a different kind of dairy company
''Dairy Foods'', January 1, 1997. Accessed on line December 21, 2007. Braum's is noteworthy for its level of

vertical integration In microeconomics, management and international political economy, vertical integration is a term that describes the arrangement in which the supply chain of a company is integrated and owned by that company. Usually each member of the suppl ...

. Almost all the food products sold at Braum's are processed or manufactured directly by the company; Braum's owns its own feed mill, dairy herd, dairy processing plant, bakery, stores, and delivery trucks. It also owns eight farms and ranches with a total area of , as well as its flagship dairy farm in Tuttle,

. The dairy farm has specified times during which it is open for public tours and is a popular destination for school field trips.Doing fine in Oklahoma. (W.H. Braum Inc.)
''Dairy Foods'', Jeff Reiter, December 1, 1994. Accessed on line December 21, 2007. Braum's describes itself as the only major ice cream maker to still milk its own cows. They also produce the packaging used for their dairy products.

A2 Milk

Braum's Family Farm is home to the largest A2 milk dairy herd in the United States. A1 and A2 are genetic variants of the beta-casein milk protein. Most cow milk is A1. Non-cow milk, including that of buffalo, camels, donkeys, goats, sheep, yaks and even human mothers are mostly A2, which limits exposure to "cow milk protein allergies, including

lactose intolerance Lactose intolerance is a common condition caused by a decreased ability to digest lactose, a sugar found in dairy products. Those affected vary in the amount of lactose they can tolerate before symptoms develop. Symptoms may include abdominal pai ...

". It took over 12 years to build the A2 herd. With the established A2 herd, Braum’s is now producing only A2 milk for sale in its own Braum’s stores.

References

External links

*
Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture – Braum's Dairy

{{Oklahoma City companies Companies based in Oklahoma City Privately held companies based in Oklahoma Restaurants in Oklahoma Economy of the Western United States Regional restaurant chains in the United States Fast-food chains of the United States Restaurants established in 1968 Ice cream parlors in the United States 1968 establishments in Oklahoma Ice cream brands Dairy products companies of the United States