Interviews: Consumer

At customer's service

Interview with James Vona, President of Dairy Maid Dairy, Inc

Dairy Maid Dairy was started in 1946 by Joseph Vona. They delivered un-pasteurized milk to Frederick, Maryland and the surrounding area. By 1948 their product was pasteurized and their business continued to grow. In 1954 Dairy Maid Dairy was the first dairy to offer wax coated paper containers for their milk products in western Maryland. In 1978 Dairy Maid Dairy purchased their first Uniloy Reciprocating Screw Intermittent Extrusion blow molding machine for dairy gallons which started their move toward plastic packaging for their dairy products. In 1984 Dairy Maid Dairy formed Prince Packaging as a part of the company to supply bottles to their dairy. They currently run 6 Reciprocating Screw Intermittent Extrusion machines producing gallons, half gallons, quarts and 14 ounce HDPE packages for milk, juice drinks, cultured milk and seasonal drinks. Dairy Maid Dairy is now run by Joseph’s two sons, Jim and Jody Vona.

In an era where small independent dairy companies are the exception, and not the rule, how has Dairy Maid Dairy been able to prosper?
Vona: Being a small dairy allows us to continue our focus on servicing our customer’s specific needs with personalized attention. And our position as a regional dairy in the Mid-Atlantic area, offering personalized service together with producing high quality products, has allowed us to see annual growth of 5-10% per year.

Does Dairy Maid Dairy have a specific market strategy for the future?
Vona: Yes, to continue to do what we currently do, just learn to do it even better. We are optimistic about the future of the dairy industry. We believe the consumer realizes the nutritional benefits of dairy products and will continue to purchase our products. We are continually working to improve shelf life of our products, which now has increased to between 21 and 28 days. We are getting into flavoured milks and organic milk products. We are always looking to improve our products and ourselves.

You have been a Uniloy customer for many years. How has Uniloy Milacron been able to help Dairy Maid Dairy meet their packaging needs?
Vona: Uniloy builds a fine quality blow molding machine. It is the workhorse of our industry. Our oldest machine still produces high quality gallons with the same precision as our newest Uniloy half gallon machine that we purchased in 1999. As you know, we run aggressive cycles on our machines, and our Uniloy machines are made to withstand our production demands.