BY BARBARA PINCKNEY
An area dairy plans to expand distribution
of its fresh milk and other products to homes,
restaurants and retailers from Queensbury to
Halfmoon–and possibly beyond–following
the opening of a new bottling and processing
plant.
Jan King, who owns Kings Brothers Dairy
in Schuylerville with his brother, Jeff King,
said the plant–the first farm-based bottling
operation in Saratoga County–will open later
this spring. Construction has been completed
on the 10,000-square-foot facility, in a former
barn on the family’s Kings Ransom Farm on
Bacon Hill. Sanitary equipment, including
the tanks, cream separators and bottlers, are
being installed.
“We’ll have everything in here in a few
months and at that point we’ll be looking to
sell half-and-half, heavy cream, condensed
milk, skim milk, whole milk, chocolate milk–
they will be the first products we attempt,”
Jan King said.
“That is stuff we are doing right
now but it is done off the farm. We are going
to bring it all back here, so we will have all
the control from milking the cow to putting
it right in the bottle.”
The 800-cow Kings Ransom Farm has been
in operation for more than 100 years, and was
in the dairy business, under the brothers’
grandfather, great uncles and father–former
Northumberland Town Supervisor Edgar King
Jr.–until the early 1960s.
But the current, fourth-generation owners
are taking an entrepreneurial approach
to production and distribution that should
mean significant growth and job creation in
the coming years. King said at least three new
people will be needed with the plant opens,
and as many as 15 new jobs could be available
within five years.
The goal is to build recognition of the
Kings Brothers Dairy name and make branded
products a bigger part of the business. At the
moment, 90 percent of milk produced on the
farm is sold through the Dairy Farmers of
America Cooperative, and is therefore subject
to the supply and demand of the market.
King said producing and selling more of its
own product will give the dairy better control over pricing. That will be particularly useful
in a year like this one, when prices are falling
due to oversupply. As of March 30, milk
futures were down nearly 13 percent from a
year earlier.
“Dairy pricing has its ups and downs,” King
said. “Hopefully this will allow us to level our
costs to be able to have better times through
low prices.”
The farm currently delivers milk, beef,
cheese, eggs, yogurt, and about 200 other
products made by itself and other local manufacturers
to 500 homes, from Halfmoon to
Queensbury, every week. King joked that it is
“very much like a farmers market on wheels”
It also serves restaurants in Saratoga
Springs and Ballston Spa. King said that once
the bottling plant is up and running, the brothers
hope to expand their wholesale business
to include additional restaurants, including
some in the Glens Falls market, as well as
retail stores. Once they have penetrated their
current market, they may expand further
north and south.
“We have had requests from Colonie,
Latham,” King said. “But at this point we’ve decided
to try to gain more customers in the area
that we’re in before we spread out further.”
Jan and Jeff King operate the farm with
their wives. Jeff’s wife, Becky, handles the
finances for the farm and dairy. Jan’s wife,
Pandora Davis, is a veterinarian who operates
a private practice while also tending to
the animals on the farm. Between them, the
couples have five children who help out after
school, on weekends and during the summer.
When they were growing up on the farm,
the brothers would hear stories from their
father and grandfather about delivering milk
around Saratoga Springs.
“We had old milk bottles in cases, some in
the garage and some in the barn, and there
was a sense of nostalgia,” Jan King said. “So we
always thought, ‘wouldn’t that be neat to do?'”
They started out selling frozen beef to
friends and neighbors. It was very popular, so
about five years ago they decided to add fresh
milk to their offerings.
“We started out with just home delivery and we got a great response,” King said. “People
loved our product and the fact that it was
delivered. So we were able to grow our business,
with both home delivery and restaurants
around Saratoga and Ballston. That has enabled
us to invest in a place to bottle our own
milk and do everything right here.”
He declined to say how much the business
is investing in the project, which got underway
last summer. It did receive grant support from
both Empire State Development and the U.S.
Department of Agriculture.
Once the processing operation is up and
running, the brothers plan to move the small
retail store that currently sits out in front of
the farm into the new building. Viewing windows
will allow customers to watch products
being made and packaged, driving home the
idea of freshness and quality.
“People have been very receptive to what
we do,” King said. “I think they appreciate
knowing that when they are buying their milk
it comes from our farm, they are supporting
a local business, and they really enjoy doing
that as well as having a great quality, great
tasting product.”