Ever swooned over the table butter at Daniel or Café Boulud? The slow-churned meadow butter varies slightly in hue based on the month of the year, and Kriemhild Dairy has won loyal fans in chefs and home cooks alike. The tiny creamery buys milk at a premium from grass-based dairy farmers, supporting nearby small-scale producers by ensuring that farmers don’t lose profit by having to sell high quality milk on the commodity market. As milk prices are expected to fall this year, the importance of creameries like this will continue to grow: “When prices drop, those smaller farms are the first out of the market,” general manager Lindsey Jakubowski explains.
Kreimhild Dairy has built up a committed customer base that is growing faster than they can churn butter. So they’ve decided to take the next step: leasing equipment and expanding their creamery. They’re currently co-packing their butter at a large-scale dairy plant, a setup that prohibits them from making new products and keeps them at the mercy of another company’s schedule. Moving into their own space will allow them to start producing cultured butter, buttermilk, sour cream and crème fraîche. Ramping up production will also mean they can buy milk from more small-scale dairy farmers, ensuring that milk from grass-fed cows gets the increase in profit margin it deserves.
All told, the expansion costs $600,000. They’ve secured a lot of that funding through small grants, their own equity and regional low interest loan funds, but they’re hoping to crowd-source the final push. Their Indiegogo campaign has one month left, and they need your support: donate $25 and you’ll receive their famous meadow butter, a sneak preview of their new cultured butter and a magnet. For $1,000 you can name one of their unbelievably cute frolicking calves calves after yourself and receive photo updates throughout its life. But donating to Kriemhild goes beyond the adorable perks: you’ll be helping environmentally responsible farmers stay on their land, and you can’t put a price tag on that.
