North Aurora, Ill.-based Oberweis Dairy aims to fill a void left when Virginia's Yoder Dairy closed in December by starting up its own home-delivery milk operations in part of the former Yoder distribution center in Virginia Beach.
 

Oberweis acquired the facility, which began operations in 1929, and has hired back some of Yoder's milkmen to begin deliveries starting April 13, according to company chairman Jim Oberweis. The company also is making a significant television ad buy in the Virginia market to promote its home-delivery service, Oberweis said. Yoder had 3,000 home-delivery customers.

“Our formula for success is quite simple: unmatched quality and taste, combined with unparalleled service,” Oberweis said. “Our cows receive no artificial growth hormones, our 32 family farms treat our cows humanely and provide pasture time and our system of care and nutrition yields a product like no other.”

For the time being, Oberweis will truck in milk from the Midwest, though the chairman said the comapny could eventually establish an East Coast bottling operation if there's enough demand. "It's safer to secure the customers first," he said in a phone interview.

Based near Chicago, Oberweis currently has more than 25,000 customers throughout the Midwest and operates 48 ice cream and dairy stores. Oberweis next plans to seek locations for dairy stores in Virginia.

“We’ve developed a blueprint for success and replicated it several times over, so we are confident that we can do the same here,” Oberweis said.

This is the company’s first foray into Virginia, but Oberweis hopes to soon expand into the Richmond market as well.