Annemarie and I just returned from a road trip to Pennsylvania. What took us there, you ask? A short course offered by Penn State University on the basics of artisan dairy processing.

Before the conference began, we stopped at Seven Stars Farm in Phoenixville, PA. We had an appointment there with Cindy, who runs the Seven Stars yogurt production facility. She met us with a huge smile and exuded all kinds of encouragement and enthusiasm for our upstart business.  Cindy might just be Del Marie’s very own fairy godmother. She showed us around their plant then sat down with us for 2 hours to discuss the ins and outs of yogurt production. Annemarie and I drove away  emboldened to start our creamery and committed to pay it forward with kindness to those who come into the industry behind us. Thank you Cindy.

After our stop at Seven Stars, we continued on to Myerstown, PA, for the conference. It was well worth the 18 hour drive. The first day was all about milk composition and microbiology, good manufacturing practices (brain strain!). The second day was sales, marketing, business management (got it!). We learned so much!

The afternoon of the second day we finally got what we’d been waiting for: a lecture on yogurt production by the yogurt guy, Dr. Bob Roberts.  We felt like groupies, sitting in the front row of class, hanging on every word he said, raising our hands with too many questions. I may have actually heard an audible sigh come from our row as he said the words lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus as if the language of yogurt cultures were his mother tongue.

On our way home, Annemarie commented that she felt like we’d received a milk baptism. Yes, we have been born into dairy.

- daphne