SALT LAKE CITY — There are many options when deciding what to pour over your cereal or into your coffee. Coffee shop orders are now filled with requests for almond, soy, coconut or oat milk. It comes down to the fact that people are buying less cow milk, the USDA reports.
Tuesday, the United States’ largest milk producer, Dean Farm, filed for bankruptcy. The company filed for chapter 11 protection in an effort to save the company.
Shayn and Kristen Bowler own Utah Natural Meat & Milk. About three years ago, they decided to get into the dairy business.
“We see farms going out of business all the time nationally, but even right around us in Salt Lake County and we needed to find a way to kind of have a niche market here,” Kristen said.
The Bowlers said they believe there is a growing desire for people to know where their food comes from. That’s why they decided to offer up raw milk.
“I don’t think we could survive selling regular milk,” Shayn said. Nor would he want to, he added. The duo pride themselves on doing dairy differently. For $9 a gallon, you can purchase a gallon of their raw milk. People are required to sign a waiver before purchasing raw milk.
When the farm store opened Tuesday, there was already a line of people waiting to get their hands on some of the raw milk and other things from the farm including eggs and fresh meat.
“I think raw milk is a growing part of the dairy industry, where the rest commodity milk is not,” Shayn said.
But despite many people turning away from regular milk, FOX 13 still found many people buying a regular gallon of milk at the grocery store. Some others said they enjoy dairy-free alternatives like almond milk.
About 550 gallons of raw milk are sold each week at Utah Natural Meat & Milk. To see what the CDC says about raw milk, click here.
