Dairy farmers find new markets with organic MOOMilk

One truck, 10 farmers and 600 cows are in sync to provide Maine's Own Organic Milk -- MOOMilk -- and have it on Hannaford store shelves by Saturday, January 23. Nearly one year after Maine organic milk farmers received notice from H.P. Hood that the company was ending its contracts with them and with an unexpected gap in financing that nearly crippled MOOMilk in November, the corporation has secured enough financing and creative partnerships to be Maine's first statewide organic milk company.

After the Hood notification, the 10 dairy farmers sold milk to Oakhurst. The milk was bought and sold as commercial non-organic milk, which helped the farmers to maintain their herds in spite of the heavy losses they incurred because of the price paid for their milk versus the cost of producing organic cows' milk. Eventually the farmers, with the assistance of the Maine Farm Bureau, decided to form a company based on a Maine brand commodity.

That company, officially established on August 1, is incorporated as an L3C company. This is a legal structure that is similar to a cooperative or non-profit entity. This type of low-profit, limited liability company is not yet approved in Maine, so the group incorporated in Vermont and then registered the company in Maine. The group was able to secure some investor financing. One company that wanted to invest $100,000 was unable to do so when it learned in November because of its shareholders' interest that it was not feasible. With tenacity, the farmers carried on and secured additional financing in December. This allowed the vision of a Maine made organic milk product to proceed towards a reality.

David James of Charlotte, Herbie McPhail of Perry and Aaron Bell of Tide Mill Farm in Edmunds are the Washington County dairy farmers involved in the company. Agricultural Consultant Bill Eldridge of Bar Harbor, Farm Bureau Aroostook County staffer Rommy Haines and David Bright, a member of the Farm Bureau Marketing Committee, have all been instrumental in organizing the company and supporting the 10 organic dairy farmers.

MOOMilk collaborated with Smiling Hill Farm in Westbrook where the milk is being processed in organic-only processing machines. Oakhurst donated a processing line, which it was no longer using. Oakhurst also is helping out with a $50,000 investment, distribution, sales and marketing. Every other day Jason Schoppee of Schoppee Milk Transport circles the state picking up the milk and delivering it to Smiling Hill Farm. With only four days from farm to shelf, MOOMilk "tastes more like fresh milk," says Aaron Bell of Tide Mill Farm. The milk is pasteurized, but not ultra pasteurized at high temperatures. The company's website <http://www.maineorganicmilk.com> has a page devoted to "Where's your milk from?" It shows consumers how to identify which state and processing plant store-bought milk and milk products come from. MOOMilk will carry the Maine Produces C New England's Best label. Four grades of MOOMilk are produced C whole, 2%, 1.5% and skim. Eventually the group hopes to produce organic dairy products such as butter.

MOOMilk continues to raise capital, via investors and other sources, in order to sustain and build the company. "We are bare bones," notes Bell. Start-up costs have included hiring a business manager, design work, buying thousands of milk cartons, printing and more. About 80% of the Hannaford stores in Maine and New Hampshire have contracted for MOOMilk, and distributor Crown of Maine will begin delivering milk to the natural food stores it supplies on February 1. Associated Grocers of Maine is getting involved as well and may distribute to its customers, such as the local IGA markets.