A26-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, June 5, 1993
There’s Something Special About March
(Continued from Page A2O)
fa, and the remainder in wheat,
oats, barley, and soybeans.
Keep costs down
Kolb said he has been able to
keep costs at the dairy down
When he can find the time, Roy Kolb serves as producer of a Sunday morning radio
broadcast called Sunday School Meditations, which Is broadcast to about 15 radio
stations, Including some In Pennsylvania, Georgia, Indiana, New Jersey, New York,
Ohii and Puerto Rico.
Leroy Kolb takes care of the crops and other bookkeeping chores, Including feed
ing the herd.
TOWSON, Md Those of
you who thought that home milk
delivery had gone the way of the
rumble seat, think again. The milk
man is back.
In fact, he never really left,
industry experts said recently.
“Many people don’t know that
the milkman is still around” said
David Weinstock, president of the
International Home Delivery
Association.
Mike Finnerty of Suncoast
Home Delivery in St. Petersburg,
Florida, agreed. “Home delivery is
like crab grass,” he said. “You can
do what you want to kill it but it
keeps coming back.”
Even though home delivery cur
rently accounts for less than 1 per
cent of total fluid milk sales, it’s
far from extinct And with today’s
dual-income, time-crunched fami
lies looking for ways to make their
lives more manageable, home milk
delivery is a reemerging market
with great promise for enterprising
dairies.
“People have more money than
time,” said Weinstock. "They’re
rediscovering the convenience of
home delivery, especially in urban
areas where you spend a lot of time
commuting to and from work.”
According to Weinstock, many
customers use home delivery to
through the years by purchasing
used equipment and doing his best
to maintain it.
But milk promotion is important
to the family. They draw a great
deal of their 50,000 customer base
from the local town. Spring City,
The Milkman Still Knocks
“fill in” between trips to the groc
ery store.
“There aren’t many mom and
pop comer grocery stores around
any longer, and convenience stores
don’t always offer the best pice.
Home milk delivery is a cost
effective alternative to spending
15 to 20 minutes in the grocery
store two or three times per week.”
Weather makes a difference in
home delivery, too, Weinstock
said. “No one wants to go out when
it’s cold. The milkman is like the
mailman he’s there every day.”
AB Munroe Dairy in East Provi
dence, Rhode Island, confirms the
demand for convenience. When
the dairy surveyed its customers
recently, it found that convenience
and service were the number one
reasons for home delivery.
Success Story
Oberweis Dairy in Aurora, 111.,
is a good example of a home deliv
ery success story. Since 1990,
Oberweis’ market has doubled
from 3,800't0 8,000 households.
Four local distributors also deliver
Oberweis milk in the Chicago
area, accounting for an additional
2,000 households. The dairy’s typ
ical customer is a dual-income
family with children. Senior citi
zens also account for much of their
customer base.
and from Phoenixville and Potts
town. They advertise regularly in
the local paper and use a billboard
on Rt. 724 during the summer.
The store also sells its own Ice
Cream (made by O’Boyle Bros, in
‘Bristol) and manufactures its own
egg nog.
What is the Oberweis secret?
Creative, aggressive marketing.
The dairy uses telemarketing to
recruit new customers.
“In the old days,” said Marie
Oberweis, who's been with the
dairy since 1939, “we chased the
moving van down the street to see
where the new customers were
moving in.”
In addition to traditional morn
ing deliveries, the dairy offers
afternoon and evening service to
accommodate working families.
They’ve also added other food
items to their delivery menu.
In addition to milk and other
dairy products, oberweis offers sch
items as premium ice cream, gour
met muffin batter and fresh
squeezed Florida orange juice
things you often can’t find in the
grocery store. Other dairies offer
items such as bread, laundry soap,
frozen foods and coffee.
According to Weinstock,
expanding the product line beyond
dairy helps keep the cost of home
delivery in check because costs are
spread out over numerous pro
ducts, not just milk.
Environmentally Sound
In this day of environmental
consciousness, returnable glass
bottles are another selling point for
home delivery.
Milk Sales At Kolb's Dairy
Serves as producer
When he can find the time, Kolb
serves as producer of a 30-minute
weekend radio broadcast called
Sunday School Meditations,
which is broadcast to about IS
radio stations, including many reg
ions in Pennsylvania, Georgia.
Indiana, New Jersey, New York,
Ohio, and Puerto Rico.
Nearly 30 years ago, he was
approached by a local church to
help with recording and broadcast
ing, which focuses on the Interna
tional Uniform Sunday School
lessons.
He said he grew up in a Menno
nite home, which didn’t allow tele
vision or even a radio. Regarding
radio, his parents “didn’t feel it
Kolb Dairy Store also markets a special half gallon refill
able bag of milk.
“Consumers like to feel that
they’re doing their part to help the
environment,” said Weinstock.
Rob Armstrong of AB Munroe
Dairy said that one glass milk
bottle can be reused 40 to 50 times
before it breaks. That saves a lot of
landfill space when compared to
the one-time use for plastic milk
jugs.
Suncoast Dairy currently deliv
ers milk in plastic jugs, but fully
Pennsylvania All-American
Hosts 30th Show
HARRISBURG (Dauphin Co.)
—Great cattle shows, challenging
youth contests, educational semi
nars, and several new activities
will highlight the 1993 Pennsylva
nia All-American Dairy Show.
The Farm Show Complex in
Harrisburg will again be the site of
the All-American. September
20-23.
The All-American will wel
come the Pennsylvania Fall
Championship Holstein Show, in
addition to the six nationally
ranked breed shows. The Pennsyl
vania show has been added to the
Tuesday, September 21 schedule.
Back by popular demand, the
was good for the children,” said
Kolb.
In 1950, Kolb purchased one of
the first tape recorders. His experi
ence with recording grew until he
was contacted in about 1960 to
record the Sunday School
Meditations.
“For me, even though I was
busy farming, it was just some
thing different to do,” Kolb said.
*‘l joked about it—l didn’t like to
go fishing, so I did this instead.”
But if it wasn’t for the store,
according to Kolb, his children’!
wouldn’t meet the mortgage.
“If it wasn’t for our store here,
we wouldn’t have the children
with us. Anywhere you go, this is
the struggle.”
expects business to increase with
the switch to glass packaging.
Whether it's for reasons of con
venience, environmentalism or
just plain nostalgia, home milk
delivery is hoe to stay.
The only difference is that today
the milkman may make his delive
ries in the twilight hours instead of
the wee hours of the morning
and he’s more likley to be deliver
ing a loaf of bread or laundry deter
gent with that gallon of milk.
Country Craft Fair will run Satur
day, September 18 through Thurs
day. September 23. The Penn
Stale Dairymen’s Club will organ
ize the craft fair, and proceeds will
benefit the Penn State Dairymen’s
Scholarship Fund and Dairy Judg
ing Team Endowment Fund.
A special feature for the 1993
show will be a l/16th scale Far-
mall F-20 Tractor. This collector
item is a limited edition and will
be available at the Pennsylvania
All-American Dairy Show for
$35.
Plans are under way to host a
forage festival and many other
activities.