Sassy Cow Creamery, the little creamery that could, celebrates its five-year anniversary this month of producing on-farm bottled milk and old-fashioned ice cream for a growing consumer base demanding not only to know where their food comes from, but also the first name of their farmer.
In this case, those first names are James and Robert, third generation dairy farmers who own two dairy farms, and in 2008, built a farmstead creamery in the middle. The Baerwolf brothers, along with their wives (both named Jenny), their growing number of children, and the amazing Sassy Cow sales/marketing guru Kara Kasten-Olson, a former farm girl herself, are a team that freely admits they had no idea what they were doing when they started.
Until Kasten-Olson and the Baerwolfs came knocking on the doors of Wisconsin grocery stores five years ago with gallons and half gallons of both organic and traditional milk, only the big boys like Dean and Golden Guernsey had a presence in the retail milk cooler. Kasten-Olson and the Baerwolfs worked beyond overtime the first couple of years to fight a milk mafia uninterested in a local farmer just to get their product placed alongside the conventional commodity jugs of milk.
Metcalfe’s Market at Hilldale Shopping Center was the first grocery store in Madison to carry Sassy Cow products. In an interview with today’s Wisconsin State Journal, Store Director Jim Meier says Sassy Cow organic milk is now tied with Organic Valley for the top-selling organic milk at Metcalfe’s, and Sassy’s traditional milk is second only behind Metcalfe’s private label.
“We see customers put other products down and pick this one up because it’s right down the road. People are willing to spend a bit extra to support the local economy,” Meier said.
Today, Sassy Cow milk is not only alongside the “big boys” of fluid milk in the dairy aisle, it often takes center stage. With their collectible “cow cards” – Darlene’s been on my fridge for years, after my daughter selected the gallon because she thought the cow’s personality description sounded like her mom – the Baerwolfs do an exceptional job of not only telling their farm story, but connecting the consumer to their farm.
Five years ago, when Sassy Cow Creamery celebrated its grand opening, it did so with lots of formal speeches from a variety of state and local officials, including Alice in Dairyland. The above photo was taken that day in front of a crowd of about 100 people. The same people in that photo are the same people running Sassy Cow Creamery today. You can meet them this Saturday at an Anniversary Open House from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., complete with tours, games, product samples and wagon rides.
Sassy Cow Creamery is located at W4192 Bristol Rd., Columbus, Wis. From Hwy 151, take the Bristol Rd. (Hwy N) Exit. Head North on Hwy N and travel seven miles. Look for the big red barn on your left, and be sure to say hello to Robert, James, the Jennys, Kara and the crew. Congratulate them for a job well done.