Mayfield Dairy Farms And The Vacreator
Posted: December 27, 2005
Sometimes the good old fashioned way is best. At least that’s what Mayfield Dairy Farms believes and proves is working.
In 1955, when companies were unveiling such high-tech marvels as microwave ovens and wireless television remotes, Tom and C. Scott Mayfield were investing in a lesser-known technology that would become the cornerstone of their small dairy’s modern day success.
The Mayfields banked on a promising new vacuum heat technology guaranteed to yield a better tasting milk, thus boosting sales. Five years after mortgaging the family farm to build the Southeast’s first modern milk processing plant, the sons of dairy founder T.B. Mayfield, Jr., purchased the nation’s first vacreator — a vacuum processor used to remove unwanted flavors and odors from milk — for installation in their Athens, Tenn., milk plant.
“The taste of onions and other strong flavors in a cow’s diet alter the taste of milk,” said President Scottie Mayfield, the fourth generation of the Mayfield family to be directly involved in the dairy’s operation. “When we first began using the vacreator to remove unwanted flavors, it was instant success. Sales jumped 25 percent that year.” Today Mayfield is the only dairy in the country that still uses a vacuum heat process to pasteurize milk.
They have a nice interactive website where you can listen to their radio commercials and view a video history of the company.