DBIA December 2022 Dairy Business Builder Grant Recipients

Project Summary: Alpinage Cheese started production last year of Mount Raclette™, a handcrafted, Alpine-style, cave-aged cheese. This funding award will help Alpinage Cheese purchase cheese molds and racks to triple their production and expand their distribution. The funding will also help develop production of an additional cheese variety.

Project Summary: SuperWhitePowder is an all natural, dairy-derived food grade white powder that can replace titanium dioxide in certain food and industrial applications. This award will greatly help SuperWhitePowder explore additional applications, and scale up production from the lab to commercial scale.

Project Summary: Black Radish Creamery is an artisan farmstead cheese producer. This award will assist Black Radish Creamery to improve the process and the format of their Old World European inspired cheeses.

Project Summary: Charlevoix Cheese Company is a fourth-generation dairy farm expanding into the production of farmstead cheese. This award will help purchase an additional cheese vat allowing diversification of cheese varieties and the expansion of alpine-style gruyere cheese to reach new markets.

Project Summary: Comstock Cheese LLC manufactures high-quality organic and conventional milk cheeses. This award will help Comstock Cheese with value-added processing to produce cheese curds, various size blocks for consumers and shredded cheeses.

Project Summary: Copper Crow Distillery is the first Native owned distillery in the U.S., specializing in the productions of spirits. This award will not only allow Copper Crow to expand their line of spirits distilled from whey, but will also assist in equipment purchases, consultation and marketing of these newly established products.

Project Summary: Freshly produces traditional milk and natural ingredient chocolate milk on their family Farm. This award will improve their capacity to produce Indiana Grown products in convenience sizes and specialty flavors for on the go and in larger quantities to satisfy our growing customer base.

Project Summary: Furniture City Creamery is a scratch made, small batch ice cream business. The DBIA grant award will help scale operations from a lab scale operation to a pilot scale operation under our Michigan Department of Agriculture. The expansion will allow them to produce and sell scratch made product outside of the current single retail space, significantly increasing our ice cream production and development capabilities.

Project Summary: Gardner's Wisconsin Cheese's mission is to establish life-long customers by creating a unique "Wisconsin" experience from the time the customers select their products and place their order, all the way down to their last bite. This award will help them purchase additional packaging equipment that will help address the demand for our products in the market.

Project Summary: Goat Milk Stuff is a family farm in southern Indiana that raises dairy goats, and uses the milk to produce various bath and body products, cheeses, and confectionaries. This award will help Goat Milk Stuff to produce their Goat Milk Caramel sauce, and be able to ship it around the country.

Project Summary: GoodSport Nutrition has developed a unique hydrating sports drink that uses liquid milk permeate as its main ingredient. GoodSport has been scientifically shown to provide rapid and long-lasting hydration. This award will assist GoodSport in reaching new Gen Z and Millennial consumers through innovative digital marketing.

Project Summary: Green Dirt Farm produces award winning artisan sheep's milk cheese. This award will help to purchase a pasteurizing vat and bottling equipment so they can supply customers with Grade A bottled sheep milk and expand the markets for their milk.

Project Summary: Grison Dairy and Creamery is a farmstead cheese operation in Southern Missouri that specializes in Swiss-style cheeses. This grant funding will allow Grison Creamery to purchase an additional cheese vat and assist with sales expenses for expanding marketing and processing of current cheeses. Funding will also help Grison Creamery purchase a cheese press and piercer to create a new blue cheese to diversify their product line.

Project Summary: Hemme Brothers Creamery is a family owned farmstead creamery that specializes in cheese production. This award allows them to expand their product line by adding feta. This new cheese has led us into several new markets.

Project Summary: Highfield Farm Creamery is a seasonal farmstead artisan cheesemaker in the Lake Geneva area. They produce cheese to be sold in their farm shop June through October, to the local shops and restaurants as well as online in their off season. This grant will allow them to add blue cheese to their line of handmade artisan cheeses.

Project Summary: Hinterland Dairy crafts aged cheddars, fresh cheese curds and quark in their on-farm creamery. This award will aid Hinterland Dairy in purchasing an HTST pasteurizer and a larger cheese vat to help process more milk from their herd into cheese.

Project Summary: JB's Barnyard is a fully mobile ice cream business in Evansville, IN. This award will allow them to purchase a walk in freezer and ice cream batch freezer. These purchases have allowed them to take control of their own inventory and grow their wholesale market by making and storing the ice cream on their own.

Project Summary: Jisa Farmstead Cheese is a 3rd generation dairy making farmstead cheese since 2005. This award will help to develop an enriched yogurt product, working with the University of Nebraska Athletic training table. This will allow the Jisa Dairy to utilize additional milk through on farm processing.

Project Summary: Ozark Mountain Creamery was started in 2010 to pasteurize, bottle, and market the milk produced at Fry Dairy, a second-generation dairy farm (established 1957). This award will help OMC purchase the necessary equipment to bottle the milk in single-serve glass bottles in addition to the half-gallon glass bottles currently used. This will more fully utilize the milk produced at the farm and increase milk sales.

Project Summary: Pine River Pre-Pack is celebrating its 60th anniversary manufacturing award-winning cheese spreads. The DBIA grant will help Pine River purchase automated packaging equipment allowing for improved efficiencies and flexibility crafting value added dairy products for its consumers and customers.

Project Summary: Rowdy Cow Creamery LLC Burton, Ohio Rowdy Cow Creamery is a farmstead milk bottling and artisan cheese making operation. This award will support Rowdy Cow Creamery in purchasing equipment, and support marketing efforts, to expand cheese product offerings, increase production capacity, and develop new markets.

Project Summary: Saltless Sea Creamery is a nationally recognized, family-owned, artisan cheese producer beautifully marrying the flavors of the Mediterranean with the amazing grass-fed cow's milk of the American Midwest. This award will allow Saltless Sea to significantly increase our production by moving out of rented creameries and to build a make-space and aging facility of their own.

Project Summary: Semifreddo is the first company in the U.S. to package and sell the classic Italian frozen dessert Semifreddo. This award will help Semifreddo outfit a new dairy facility with a full production line, allowing them to grow into new markets and move products from point A to B in a more efficient manner.

Project Summary: Sirocco Ridge Farmstead Creamery concentrates on making farmstead goat cheeses within an AGW Animal Welfare Approved and sustainable framework. The award was for the purchase of ice cream-making equipment, cooling systems, supplies, and labor for the expansion of value added products. Specifically it is allowing the farm to expand into making goat milk gelato, and artisanal, aged, hard cheeses.

Project Summary: Smith Brothers Creamery LLC is a new business bottling milk on our family dairy farm. They will sell A2 milk (flavored & white) & cream to their local customers. This grant will help with start-up costs for the creamery equipment.

Project Summary: Specialty Cheese Company manufactures cheese for America’s many ethnic cuisines. This award will help the Company purchase a higher throughput package sealer allowing us to produce more fresh cheese so they can reach more markets.

Project Summary: Thistle Dew Creamery LLC is an on-farm, start up cheese processing facility. This grant will help them purchase the cheese vat necessary to start production.

Project Summary: Troyer Specialty Foods is in a joint venture with GAD Dairy LLC located in Israel. The joint venture produces and distributes the unique cow's milk feta cheese that has proven popular in other markets. This creamy Feta cheese is packaged in sea salt brine to maintain its creamy fresh flavor and texture.

Project Summary: Twin Springs Creamery is a multi-farmer collaboration to establish direct-dairy-distribution in southwest central Indiana. They specialize in fluid milk, yogurt, and kefir, including both cow and goat milk. This award is helping them purchase pasteurization and bottling equipment, as well as develop marketing systems.

Project Summary: VernDale Products is a family-owned manufacturer of premium roller dried whole milk powder, primarily serving the confectionary industry. This award will assist them in providing their high-volume customers with packaging alternatives, broaden, risk mitigation strategies, and add production capacity to our Weaver Street plant.

Project Summary: Wisconsin Dairy State is a cheese producer originally known for its cheddar cheese. This award will help convert the plant from cheddar to producing world class parmesan and increase volume.