MOOMilk arrives in Maine dairy cases the week of January 24, 2010!
Maine's Own Organic Milk -MOOMilk- will be available in grocery
store dairy cases this weekend throughout Maine, and in selected stores
in New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
Produced by 10 Maine family organic dairy farms in Washington, Aroostook, Penobscot and Kennebec Counties, the milk will be trucked by Schoppee Milk Transport of Holden to Smiling Hill Dairy in Westbrook for processing, then distributed by Oakhurst Dairy of Portland and Crown O' Maine Organic Co-op of Gardiner. That makes it the only organic milk available in Maine that is produced, trucked, processed and distributed exclusively by Maine family businesses.
"This truly is local milk," said Bill Eldridge of Bar Harbor, MOOMilk's general manager, "customers who buy MOOMilk will know they are supporting the Maine economy by supporting Maine family businesses."
In addition, Eldridge said, customers should know that 90 percent of the profits from MOOMilk will be returned to the farmers.
"We aren't a co-op," he said, "we're a special kind of low-profit business, with a mission to make just enough to keep running and return most of our profits to the farms. Under our charter, we exist to help farm families stay in business by making enough to keep their operations viable."
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The farmers own part of the company and have three seats on the seven-member board of directors, he said.
Maine's Own Organic Milk Company was formed through the cooperative efforts of the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA), Maine Farm Bureau and the Maine Department of Agriculture after the H.P. Hood Co. of Boston notified a number of Maine farmers that it would no longer be picking up their milk after last summer. At the time, those farmers were faced with either going out of business or finding a conventional, lower-paying, market for their milk. While there is good demand in Maine for organic milk, Eldridge said, the demand for local milk is greater. Finding a way to fit into both of those market niches is what made the project possible, he said, adding that every carton will feature a story about one of the 10 farms producing for the company. . MOOMilk will be available in half-gallon paper cartons, in whole, 2 percent, 1 percent and skim. In coming months, the company will offer retail customers organic butter, cream and half, but for the startup these products will only be available to wholesale markets, Eldridge said. The milk will be homogenized and pasteurized, he said, also making it the only organic milk available in Maine that is not ultra-pasteurized.
The farms shipping to Maine's Own Organic Milk Company are HB Farms, Woodland(Aroostook); Griffin Family Farm, Perham; Kauffman Family Farm, Smyrna; Oliver Farm, Hogdon; Chase Organic Dairy Farm, Mapleton; Tide Mill Farm, Edmunds; James Pond Dairy, Charlotte; Rocky Ledge Farm, Perry; McKusick Dairy Farm, Dexter; and Windy Acres Farm, Clinton.
More information on MOOMilk may be obtained at MOOMIlkCO.com, or by contacting Eldridge at gweconsult@roadrunner.com or by calling 242-5034. Inquiries may also be directed to MOOMilk secretary David Bright at dbright@brightberryfarm.com or by calling 234-4226.
