Elmer & Sarah's

Elmer and Sarah’s is named for my grandparents, Elmer and Sarah Stoltzfus.

They bought this land in 1947 and started a grass fed dairy. The cows rotationally grazed on pasture. My grandfather would milk the cows, bottle the milk, and deliver it via horse and carriage. 

In 1950, he completed construction on our Da barn. There’s a date stone on the left side of the barn that reads, “Built by Elmer and Sarah Stoltzfus.” Another on the right that says “1950”.  

Years later, after working as a dairy veterinarian, I purchased that same family farm from my uncle. In April of 2008, I bought 40 cows and started milking them. Most of the milk went to the milk company in a big tanker truck, but the paychecks weren’t enough to cover even the cost of milking. By December 2009, I thought I would have to shut down the farm.

Then, I got a life line.  A local farm selling directly to customers needed more milk and signed on for three deliveries a week.

Next, we expanded into stores in Philadelphia. I built a small commercial kitchen out of a steel 20’ shipping container. We started making yogurt.  Our popularity grew slowly, but it grew. Everything that we made, I put back into the farm.

Now, over ten years later, we have a full-size commercial kitchen. We distribute our kefir, yogurt, and butter to a wide interstate customer base. We’ve grown, but our values and our purpose have stayed the same. 

I still milk the cows (with some help). I still run the farm and live here with my family. Not much has changed for the cows, and we like it that way. We treat them like family. They live out their lives grazing on beautiful, lush pastures. We’re still producing high-quality, nutrient dense dairy products using old-world principles. 

Our mission is to bring healthful foods from our family’s farm to your family’s fridge.