The Farmers' Creamery
We had the opportunity to sit down with Junior from The Farmers’ Creamery recently and thought you might like to know a little bit more about their operation. The Farmers’ Creamery, in Mio, Michigan, are the producers of the glass-bottle dairy products that we proudly carry in our stores. They started in 2020 as three Amish dairy farmers that shared the mission “to offer top-quality, fresh, clean dairy products while supporting their family farms.”
The Farmers’ Creamery is dedicated to sustainability. That is a big reason they stay with the glass bottles they are known for. That, and they stand by that the glass bottles improve the freshness and taste. Beyond how it is bottled, they also put a lot of care and consideration into the raising of the cows that produce their milk.
Today, they are made up of five family farms, each with about forty cows. Four of the farms are within five miles of the Creamery, and the fifth is about thirty miles away. "All within horse driving distance," according to Junior.
Their dairy cows are all 100% grass fed. They use no antibiotics or added hormones. Each cow produces around 35 pounds of milk a day. Junior shared that the industry average is 80 lbs. The milk undergoes a special kind of pasteurization called vat or batch. This is where the milk is heated to a lower temperature, 150 degrees, for 30 minutes, rather than a quick-process high-heat known as ultra pasteurization.
“The Farmers’ Creamery’s Grade A dairy products are produced from A2 milk from our herd of 100% grass fed cows. A2 refers to a form of casein found in milk... Historically cows only produced A2 beta casein milk commonly known as A2 milk. However, a genetic mutation occurred years ago resulting in cows producing two types of beta caseins in their milk: the unmutated A2 beta variant and mutated variant known as A1.”
There is a lot of information available on these two types of casein. Researchers are looking into whether there is a link between A1 caseins and certain health issues, as well as if A2 caseins are easier on the digestive system. We invite you to explore the topic further on your own.
The Farmers’ Creamery produces their milk without synthetic chemicals or genetically modified components. They farm organically but are not USDA certified. Other raw materials are sourced locally by certified suppliers.
If all of this is not enough reason to fall in love with their products, we invite you to please let the taste speak for itself. The cap of cream on top just needs a quick shake to mix it up and you are ready to have a true experience. If you haven’t tried the chocolate milk or eggnog around the holidays, be prepared to have a new favorite.
We love to highlight our local farmers and producers! They are our mission in action, Making a Difference One Bite at a Time—or in this case, one drink at a time! They meet many of our Ends (below) as well. If you loved Shetler's and havent yet tried Farmers' Creamery, we know you will be impressed with the work they are doing to keep the local, glass-bottle, small-batch, dairy industry going strong. We sure are! Until next time, see you in the stores!
