Newly Certified – No Tricks at Tricking Springs Creamery: OU Certification Expands Consumer Market Base

No Tricks at Tricking Springs Creamery: OU Certification Expands Consumer Market Base

Tricking Springs Creamery was founded in 2001 in Chambersburg, PA by two friends, Gerald Byers and Myron Miller, with the goal of processing premium milk from local farmers for the local community. These two men established high standards for their farmers including what they feed their cows, how they care for their animals, and how they maintain their land’s eco-sustainability. A large part of their program involves giving cows access to pasture year round and feeding a grass-intensive diet. All our milk is minimally processed using low-temp pasteurization, simple ingredients, and no additives in our whole milk or creams.

In 2002, we became certified as an organic processor and started selling organic products throughout the greater Mid-Atlantic region. As our reputation for quality organic grass-fed dairy products grew, we were privileged to expand distribution across the eastern seaboard region. Gerald Byers says, “I never could have imagined the growth we experienced since we started 15 years ago. We are very thankful to our retailers and consumers for the support they’ve shown us. Customers remind us daily that they expect us to hold to the values we started with and to deliver only the best; we do our best to deliver on that expectation.”

In 2012, we launched our Trickling Springs FarmFriend brand, separating our Organic and Natural product brands. That same year we had the opportunity to begin processing fresh goat milk from a community of four family goat farms located in central Pennsylvania. We launched the production of both fresh goat milk and raw goat milk cheese. At the start of 2014, we signed a lease for a certified organic farm and processing plant in Southeastern Missouri. This plant was processing cultured products, so we moved production of our yogurt smoothie and cheese lines to Missouri, freeing up much-needed space for our fresh milk, cream, butter, and ice cream production in Chambersburg.

As we grow, we are committed to developing sustainable organic farming in the Mid-Atlantic area. In early 2015, we launched our Farmer-for-Life™ program to encourage farmers to make the transition from conventional farming to organic farming. This program incrementally pays farmers for each step they make along the journey toward their certification as organic farmers. That same year we also achieved SQF level 2 certification and OU Kosher Certification at our Trickling Springs Ranch processing plant in Koshkonong, Missouri.

Trickling Springs Creamery produces products under two marketplace brand names: Trickling Springs Organic and Trickling Springs FarmFriend. We source all our milk directly from our community of family farms, which grass-feed their cows, giving them access to pasture year round. Our standards are based on the concept that the cows should be treated as the mothers they are. And we believe that to process the best product, we need to have the best raw milk coming into our plant. Our Organic brand is USDA-certified organic and Non-GMO Project verified. Our FarmFriend brand is in process of Non-GMO Project verification.

We chose the OU Kosher certification in order to expand our consumer market base and serve a demand of our customers. We also have seen a big increase in manufacturers looking for Non-GMO or Certified Organic grass-fed dairy ingredients. Many of these manufacturers are already producing kosher-certified products and needed our products to be kosher to be able to use them. The OU Kosher certification has definitely expanded our marketplace.

Today, we purchase milk from 27 Organic dairies, 7 FarmFriend dairies, 10 FarmFriend goat dairies, and 1 certified Organic goat dairy.