Bobolink Dairy and Bakeyard

Artisan foods for contemporary times

Vernon, New Jersey

Ask Jonathan White to describe the cheese and bread he and his family make at Bobolink Dairy and he'll quickly say, "It's the joyful accumulation of everything we do." Based on an unconventional passion for keeping dairy cows outside on a natural diet of grass, this 200 acre farm in Vernon, New Jersey, exemplifies an artisanal food business for today's marketplace, dedicated to directly connecting with and helping educate their customers.

Located in the rolling foothills of the Catskill and Pocono mountains about an hour and a half outside New York City, Bobolink Dairy started producing cheese in the spring of 2003. An engineer by professional training, Jonathan started cheesemaking as a hobby in 1989. Prior to Bobolink Dairy, he and his wife, Nina, a professional dancer by trade, founded another dairy business, Egg Farm Dairy. After losing control of the business to hostile venture capital investors, they initiated an educational non-profit organization, the Grasslands Cheese Consortium. Jonathan and Nina live on the farm with their three children, ages twelve to seventeen.

"Bobolink Dairy is based on the radical notion that dairy cows should be outside and eat grass," Jonathan says with a smile, realizing that his philosophy of focusing on small-scale, high quality production goes against the modern business norm of bigger being better. Bobolink Dairy's herd of about thirty-four cows eat primarily grass, supplemented by hay in the winter. They are outside by choice nearly all the time, going back to the way dairy cows historically have been raised until about the 1950s. By contrast, according to conventional, modern agriculture standards, dairy cows eat a grain diet, are milked year-round and have limited, if any, access to the outdoors.

"Cows by nature want to be outside," comments Jonathan. "The only times when we see cows voluntarily come inside is for shade when its very hot or shelter from cold, wet winds." The Bobolink Dairy herd produces milk from April through November, naturally drying out when the grasses die off about December through March.

Grass-fed dairy cows produce less milk, but Jonathan feels the flavor and quality of the milk is far superior, resulting in a premium cheese. "A regular grain-fed dairy cow typically produces about one hundred pounds of milk a day, whereas my grass-fed cow may produce only thirty pounds," explains Jonathan. "However, we then take that thirty pounds of milk and make eleven pounds of cheese which we retail for twenty dollars a pound. Add in that we have close to zero feed costs for our cows, and the financial numbers work in our favor," adds Jonathan. His customers agree, quickly growing Bobolink Dairy to a solidly profitable business and sustaining a fifty percent annual growth ever since.

During the milking season, the cows are milked daily. Milk goes directly into a cheese vat. Jonathan makes the cheese on-site in a creamery building, a building which also houses the on-farm retail store. Bobolink Dairy produces twelve different styles of cheeses with flavors naturally varying throughout the season. "We let seasonality shine through our cheeses, providing a diversity of flavors," Jonathan explains. "The milk varies as both the grass and the cow physiology changes throughout the season. Because we have a direct relationship with our customers, such seasonal taste variances are looked at positively and are a selling point for us. But such diversity would never fly with mass-produced cheese," adds Jonathan.

Jonathan and Nina added bread-baking to Bobolink Dairy's product mix in 2004, building an outdoor, wood-fired hearth oven and firing the oven daily from Wednesday to Sunday. "In addition to our personal passion for baking, we saw the bread as a strong compliment to our cheese," explains Jonathan. "Our cheese tends to attract the more gourmet, food educated connoisseurs from New York City who come out to our rural area for the weekend and visit our retail store. We thought bread would bring more area New Jersey suburban residents as bread remains something anyone can relate to." Just four months after starting with the bakery, Bobolink Dairy was baking over 2,500 loaves of bread a week, often incorporating the company's cheeses in the breads like cheese croissants and cheese ciabatta , a soft Italian bread with a hearty crust. While baked bread doesn't ship well, Jonathan is experimenting with mail-order of frozen "ready to bake" items as a way to expand this side of the business.

The majority of Bobolink Dairy's sales comes from New York City area farmers' markets, a venue Jonathan and Nina feel committed to as an opportunity to connect with their customers and facilitate public education. "When people buy cheese or bread from Bobolink Dairy, they are purchasing it directly from someone involved with its production," comments Jonathan. "If a week goes by and I'm not at a farmers' market, I feel like something is missing." On-farm retail and on-line cheese sales provide the other key retail sales outlets, with only a small percentage of business going to wholesale accounts. "We don't offer credit to our wholesale accounts. This may go against the norm of the wholesale trade, but this eliminates the need for us to hire a full-time bookkeeper to have to track down payments," Jonathan explains.

Education and outreach remain a key ingredient in Bobolink Dairy's mission, providing opportunities for people with a variety of backgrounds to experience grass-fed dairy cows outside and connect with artisanal, hand-crafted foods. A second farmhouse on the property houses around four interns, ranging from culinary students and food writers coming for a few weeks to get a hands-on experience in cheese and bread making to long-term professional interns interested in starting their own related businesses. "Most short-term interns come on a volunteer basis in exchange for room and board with longer interns paid a small stipend by Bobolink Dairy to ensure coverage under workman's compensation. In addition to intern assistance, Jonathan and Nina manage Bobolink Dairy as the family's sole income source with one full-time staff who runs the retail store and assists with administration and some part-time on-site help at the farmers markets. One of our former interns recently started their own cheese-making operation in their home country of South Africa," says Jonathan.

Jonathan and Nina also conduct half-day, on-farm workshops, offered throughout the year every second Sunday from 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM for forty dollars per person. When cheesemaking is in session, the class begins in the Creamery with a discussion of the history of cheesemaking, a demonstration of the cheesemaking process and a guided tasting of Bobolink cheeses. A baking demonstration and tasting come next, followed by lunch and a pasture walk to visit the cows. Additionally, the duo gives a variety of culinary related presentations like "Cheesemaking, from the US Northeast to the Tibetan Plateau" or narrated cheese-based banquets for various culinary groups and food festivals. Jonathan and Nina often donate speaking services to organizations providing help to children with special needs, a cause close to their own hearts since one of their sons is autistic.

Jonathan's advice for people interested in following in Bobolink Dairy's footsteps and starting a small-scale, artisanal food business: develop a specific business plan and expect to work hard. "Folks tend to have romantic visions of buzzing bees and rolling hills when it comes to a farming lifestyle and, unfortunately, have generalized, ambiguous notions when it comes to running a business. They don't realize the amount of energy it takes," advises Jonathan. "Set specific goals, run your numbers, develop a farm plan. Creating food can be an incredibly satisfying livelihood, feeding both the bank account, stomach and soul."