Our farmers are excited to announce we are now offering even more premium, local dairy products – Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy will now be distributing Cabot products!
Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy LLC. was formed in 2013, but our group of 11 original family farms had been farming in the Hudson Valley and shipping high quality milk for many years, sometimes even many generations, prior. Before Hudson Valley Fresh was created, our farmers were proud suppliers for a nationally recognized and award winning co-operative that is synonymous with quality: Cabot Cheese.
Hudson Valley Fresh and Cabot have therefore had an extremely close relationship from the start. When our group of farmers got together in the late 2000’s and early 2010’s to discuss ways to market their milk locally as a premium product from a distinct region and caliber of farms, Cabot, or rather, the parent co-op that markets Cabot Cheese, Agrimark, was one of the very first calls.
How could we segregate our milk, process, package, and market it? Could it be done? Agrimark supported us by allowing us to test out this theory, and through the invaluable help of local politicians, agribusinesses, and professional organizations, our grassroots operation slowly took shape. Today, three of our original farms have retired and stopped milking cows, but 8 family farms remain, with 9 trucks serving local customers and distribution partners bringing our product all over the East Coast.
Today, if a tank of our milk is not needed by Hudson Valley Fresh to fulfill our own orders, that tank of milk goes to one of Agrimark’s processing facilities in either Vermont or Springfield, Massachusetts to make cheese, butter, or milk powder. Our farmers are proud to provide milk to both of these tremendous products, and are excited to announce that as of June 2024, we will be offering distribution of Cabot products!
Award Winning-Cheese
The production team behind the Cabot brand knows how to make some phenomenal cheeses, with the national and international designations to back it up! In 2024, Cabot picked up 1st Place Extra Creamy Sea Salt Butter and 1st Place Pepper Jack at the World Championship Cheese Contest. In 2023, the National Milk Federation awarded them 1st place Sharp Cheddar and Colby Cheese, as well as 1st place Triple Cream Vanilla Bean Yogurt. Cabot had countless other products awarded placings in both competitions, and just like our team at Hudson Valley Fresh, they know that the little things are really the big things when it comes to producing a consistently high quality product – it’s all about the details!
We are excited to be able to offer Cabot branded products to the local businesses we partner with and will be spreading the good word about the work that farmer-owned cooperatives like Hudson Valley Fresh and Cabot do for family farms.
Are you a local farm market? Restaurant? School? Interested in sourcing premium local dairy, fresh from the farm? Reach out today to get more information about our product offerings and to set up an account!
So you’ve heard Hudson Valley Fresh produces quality milk, but what does that mean? How do you produce quality milk, and more importantly, how do you maintain that premium quality all the way from the cow to your cereal bowl? We are very proud and excited to share our most recent third party audit results below, and coupled with our unmatched milk quality standards for our farmers, it’s clear that we continue to show Hudson Valley Fresh is all about quality.
Milk quality is what we’ve built our company around, is what our farmers work tirelessly to maintain, and is what our processing team monitors obsessively. It’s all about quality, objective, black and white, “look at the data,” quality.
What Milk Quality Looks like on the Farm
Quality milk starts with a quality diet for our Hudson Valley Fresh cows. They eat a variety of high quality oats, alfalfa, barley, soybeans, and corn silage. About 65% of their diet consists solely of homegrown forage! All this hay helps the cows immune system which helps her produce more omega-3 fatty acids in the milk, which makes a better quality cream. Our farmers also strive to keep our cows comfortable and their udders clean, which further contributes to a proven, higher quality milk.
How do farmers make sure their milk adheres to the Hudson Valley Fresh quality standards? Every month our farmers test each individual cow through the Dairy Herd Information Association (DHIA) for SSC or somatic cell counts which are white blood cells in the milk. Elevated levels of SCC’s in the milk indicate infection in the udder, and they measure the cows overall well being. Hudson Valley Fresh farms are under 200,000 per mL, while the legal limit in the U.S is 750,000 cells per mL.
The common range for our farms is 45,000 to 160,000 cells per mL. The low somatic cell counts make a more flavorful, higher quality milk. Our farmers go above and beyond to make sure their cows are healthy and produce the highest quality milk!
What Milk Quality Looks like at the Bottling Facility
Hudson Valley Fresh Dairy has a third party audit performed annually. This audit consists of an outside company that comes into our facility and evaluates our documentation and protocols, and lets us know how our team can continue to improve in all different areas of dairy processing. This is above and beyond what is required by state and federal guidelines, and in addition to the testing done by our state regulator.
Our processing team regularly does ample in-house testing in addition to sending out finished product samples to a third party lab every single week. This is to ensure we are consistently producing a high quality product. Some of the in-house tests we perform are for butterfat levels and for antibiotics, as state law regulates that ALL milk (organic or not) MUST test negative for antibiotics prior to bottling.
Even though we have one of the oldest milk processing facilities in New York State, our quality team is exceptional at operating at a high caliber level when it comes to proven quality results. Our farmers are very appreciative for their efforts, and extremely proud to report that…
our 2024 audit score was a 98.99 out of 100!
Factors contributing to a high score in a third party audit such as this would be a clean production facility, properly trained employees, and the assurance that on site plant personnel and management have a basic understanding of day to day operation from start to finish. Every member of our team, including the farmers, the truck drivers, and the bottling team – all are deserving of recognition for contributing to this tremendous continued success!
Where You Can Find our Quality Milk & How You Can Support
Check out our Store Locator and type in your Zip Code and find the nearest retail location carrying Hudson Valley Fresh. Don’t see your favorite store on the list? Feel free to tell the store manager you want to see our premium, local dairy on the shelf!
We are proud of our team, our cows, and the work we do — but none of it would be possible without you! Thank you for appreciating all the hard work that goes into producing a premium product, and enjoying our products in your home or business.
