Black River Valley Natural is a micro-creamery and producer of small-batch artisanal foods. Located at the base of the falls in the tiny town of Lyons Falls, NY, we are fortunate to call the North Country home.  Flanked by the Adirondacks to the East and the Tug Hill Plateau to the West, there is just no place we would rather be.

As a farm business, how is the Cornell Dairy Foods Extension Team a valuable resource for you?

Our partnership with Cornell goes back to our initial product development where we were able to utilize their world-class dairy processing facilities to help develop our product and produce our initial production runs.  We continued to work with Cornell to purchase cream and do additional product development as our business expanded and our product line grew.  Cornell was also instrumental in helping us to improve our food safety plan, cleaning and sanitation procedures, and our environmental monitoring program.  We also appreciate the regular feedback we receive from the Voluntary Shelf Life Program that we actively participate in.  Everyone at the Dairy Foods Extension Team is very knowledgeable and wonderful to work with and we would not be where we are today without them.

How do you interact with the dairy foods extension team?

Frequently via phone, text, email, zoom, and in person.  The whole team is extremely approachable.

What services have been valuable for you? Has the team’s expertise helped you tackle unique challenges?

Everything Cornell and the Dairy Foods Extension Team has helped us with has been very valuable and has helped us in some critical way.  Specifically, we have received a lot of value from the VSL program and the various initiatives that has triggered as we seek to continually improve our quality and perfect our processes.  The frequent phone calls and discussions around food safety, formulations, environmental monitoring, and building connections in the industry have also been very important.  The list goes on!

Have collaborations with the dairy extension team contributed to your successes? Please describe.

Our collaboration with the Dairy Extension Team has certainly contributed to our success.  From the development of new product lines, improving our product quality and shelf life, to helping with the fundamentals of plant design, the team has helped us almost every step of the way.  In fact, our recent school milk contract win would not have been possible without the help and support of the Dairy Extension Team and the world-class support they’ve offered us over the past few years!