Taste the #1 Milk in NY State
If you have tried the milk from Battenkill Valley Creamery in Salem, NY, you’ve had the best milk this state currently offers. If you drink milk from the supermarket, you are getting milk from many dairy farms that has been sold to a co-op, trucked from the farm to a factory, combined with other farms’ milk, bottled in plastic or cartons, then trucked to your store. Of course we can’t drive the several hours up to Battenkill’s on-farm bottling location to get their milk which goes from their cows to their glass (yes!) bottles then directly to happy milk drinkers. That’s where Hudson Milk Company comes in.
Based in Shrub Oak, Tom and Therese Rubino have been running Hudson Milk for the last 17 years. Motivated by the lack of local availability and choice when it came to quality dairy, they bought a milk truck and an existing delivery route consisting of about a dozen customers. Today Hudson Milk is still a family run business, with Tom and Therese running the office with their daughter and son, and a son-in-law making deliveries. They make home delivery of milk, featuring Battenkill Valley Creamery products, cheeses, yogurts, breads, jams, honey, butter and more from local farmers and artisanal producers. Their customer base is now 850+ and continues to grow weekly. Tom cites the increasing desire of people to want to know where their food comes from as a main reason for their popularity. I met them at the Chappaqua farmers’ market when I saw the glass bottles of Battenkill Valley Creamery milk on their table. Having been lucky enough to have previously toured the bottling facility and dairy farm of the creamery that is currently the #1 dairy in New York state and having tasted their product, I couldn’t sign up with Hudson Milk for home delivery fast enough! Milk is just the beginning of the top quality products that Hudson Milk offers- one cheese supplier, Sprout Creek Farm near Poughkeepsie, also sells their amazing small batch cheeses to top restaurants in NYC.
The Rubino family takes great pride in their high level of customer service, and while Tom doesn’t drive the delivery truck anymore, he really enjoys seeing his clients at Chappaqua indoor farmers’ market currently, and at the Muscoot farm market in the warmer months. He is extremely knowledgeable about the local food scene, and is happy to discuss many current hot topics, such as organic vs. non, quality control in factories vs. farms, and the many advantages of knowing where your food comes from. I am happy to support his local, family-run business that in turn supports our local farmers. You just can’t put a price on that commodity in my educated opinion. One taste of his products will have you sharing my view, I’m sure!
Yorktown’s own Karen Symington Muendell is Chef/Owner of Serves You Right, Culinary LLC in Westchester. She caters, teaches and does public cooking demonstrations at area farmers’ markets.
Adam has worked in the local news industry for the past two decades in Westchester County and the broader Hudson Valley. Read more from Adam’s author bio here.