By Amy Savage
King Brothers Dairy , Jan and Jeff King of Schuylerville, NY was reborn in the spring of 2010. The original King Bros Colebrook Dairy was operated by their grandfather and the rest of the King family until the early 1960s.
With one of the orginal delivery trucks is grandfather Edgar, in the back and father Ed with his sister Greta
Back then, the farm milked cows, processed milk and delivered it to homes, stores, and restaurants around the Saratoga Springs area. Many residents to this day, fondly remember Edgar delivering milk.
Today's delivery truck with brothers Jeff (left) and Jan.
The decision to re-kindle King-Brothers Dairy involved numerous factors. The Saratoga area has been booming with growth and the brothers contemplated whether they should look to move to a rural area. Instead they decided to add some diversity to offer greater opportunities to both the family operation and the employees. In recent years, an increasing number of friends and neighbors had inquired about how they could buy products directly from their farm. In addition, the buy local trend is on the rise and the Saratoga area is very supportive of local agriculture. The Kings decided that returning to their roots by providing fresh, locally produced products, delivered directly to homes was the way they wanted to go.
Currently, the dairy offers Whole, Reduced Fat (2%), Lowfat (1%) and Chocolate Milk, all in glass bottles. When asked why, Jeff responded, “It just tastes better!” Glass bottles keep the milk colder and retain its fresh taste. Jeff added, “Furthermore, glass is more environmentally friendly than paper cartons or plastic jugs. Our bottles can be washed and reused as many times as they are returned. This "greener packaging" results in less waste added to landfills.”
Additionally, King Brothers Dairy offers orange juice, eggs, supplied by a local farmer and ground beef from their own beef cattle herd.
Growth has been by leaps and bounds, mostly by word of mouth. A full-time delivery person was recently hired and deliveries are now scheduled three days a week. Their Facebook page has also been a successful vehicle for getting the word out. Additionally they give postcards to customers to pass out to their friends and neighbors. Their product has been so well received, now their regular customers are asking for more postcards to hand out.
Working directly with the consumers has been very rewarding, according to Jeff. Customers provide positive feedback and that fuels the desire to produce a quality product. This is something the majority of dairymen never get to hear on their day in and day out work on the farm.
Bringing the family business back has been an exciting venture for the entire family. Renewing King Brothers Dairy has been a positive move. Not only do they enjoy their new customers it has been fun to come across customers from the original delivery days from long ago.
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