Summary
So far it hasn't been all that difficult to sell Millborne Farm Yogurt Drink to Americans -- at least, not to Vermont customers who've gotten a taste of it at stores such Burlington's City Market and Healthy Living in South Burlington. At the Middlebury Natural Foods Co-op, produce worker Brian Slavin and his 4-year-old daughter are sold on the stuff. "This may sound kind of out there," Slavin says, "but when I drink it, it really feels like I'm drinking nutrition. It has an amazing freshness to it ... People are buying it, too." In three months, sales along the Route 7 corridor between Rutland and Burlington have grown to 1000 bottles a week.
It's not organic. "For us, it's about cow health," [Gert] says, explaining that if one of his animals gets sick, he wants to be able to administer antibiotics, which are verboten on an organic operation. Precautions are taken to prevent any pharmaceuticals from entering the milk supply. The label on the yogurt reads "all natural and probiotic." Such distinctions are important to customers. The Schuts have learned all about that since Millborne Farm Yogurt Drink made its debut at the Addison County Field Days last summer. "We'd never had any marketing experience," Gert admits. Distribution, too, is new territory. Monument Farms and Thomas Dairy have the western side of the state covered, but the Schuts have yet to find anyone to bring their product to central Vermont.Could drinkable yogurt one day replace Ben & Jerry's ice cream as Vermont's most distinctive dairy product? Savvy as they are, the Schuts appear to be somewhat reluctant ag entrepreneurs. "If it takes off, that's great," says Gert. But really, he adds, "We're doing this for the farm."See the full content of this document
Extract
Edible Complex; Milking It
It's morning in Vermont. You pad downstairs, open up the fridge, and pour yourself a nice big glass of ... yogurt? Yep, you read it right. If Gert and Arda Schut of Millborne Farm have their way, that scenario will soon be playing itself out in kitchens all over the state. In August, the...
See the full content of this document
Sponsored links
