Hartlzer produces craft dairy out of Wooster
By Joe Frye
Most may not think about where their milk comes from. Gone are the days of the milk man, delivering local milk or picking up a quart from the local farm stand. Milk, by and large, is an essential that consumers may not think much about after they add it to their shopping cart.
Hartzler Dairy, in Wooster, Ohio, is looking to change this notion. Having operated for years as a part of the larger dairy system, creating milk and selling it off to distributors, Hartzler now operates as one of Ohio’s more recognizable local dairy farms. Offering milk, ice cream and other dairy-based items, the family-owned company’s products can be found across the state.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Hartzler’s roots run much deeper than the company’s inception in the 1990s. Harold Hartzler, the company’s founder, came from a long line of farmers, with “really humble beginnings,” Jace Hartzler, current owner of the company, says.
“As a dairy farmer, there was no way to differentiate your milk or tell the story behind how it was produced,” Jace says. This led his grandpa, Harold, to create Hartzler’s own products with the family’s name on the packaging. “My grandpa had a desire to bring our product directly to the consumer.”
Despite those humble beginnings, the Hartzlers still found a way to break into the business world. After hearing of a closing dairy farm in Pennsylvania, the family got their hands on the necessary equipment for processing milk. “We opened in 1996 with ice cream at the front of the store and milk in the coolers.”
Of course, the opening of the business is an achievement in and of itself. However, keeping one open is the biggest challenge, especially when you are competing directly with large grocers who can slap their name on a product and sell it, according to Jace. “We relied almost entirely on word of mouth,” he says. “That’s really how we got started.”
Perhaps it is this that makes the Hartzlers most proud of their product. While available throughout the state, it remains a small brand and the shop can still be visited in Wooster.
Jace says that most dairy brands use “ultra-high pasteurization,” raising the temperature of the milk in a matter of seconds. Hartzler, on the other hand, takes its time pasteurizing the milk. Bringing the temperature up at a steady pace, the method “is more like slow cooking,” Jace says. “It gives the milk a different flavor and texture —and in our minds, a superior product — while keeping the enzymes and proteins intact.”
Finally, after the milk is pasteurized, the company leaves its product unhomogenized, meaning that the cream of the milk sits at the top of the product. After that, the milk is packaged in glass bottles. What results is not only a product that Jace says is superior, but one that can be consumed by more people. Having recently received A2 certifications, the milk is easier on the stomach. “We have a lot of customers who are lactose intolerant and can actually drink our milk,” Jace says.
With all these qualities coming together, Hartlzer is a “craft dairy,” Jace says. “A lot of people have lost the connection between food and where it comes from. Being family-owned allows us to be transparent. People know exactly where their food is coming from and that matters.”