There are many reasons our milk tastes as delicious and rich as it does! Many people think it's just the glass bottle, and while our signature glass bottles certainly protect the flavor of our milk, it really is much more than that. In fact it all starts at the farm...

Milk Quality At the Farm
We start with the highest quality milk available:

• Family Farms and The Oberweis Farmer’s Pledge: Our small-herd family farmers make certain commitments to Oberweis Dairy and our customers that ultimately produce the highest quality milk available. Click here to read the Oberweis Farmer’s Pledge.

• Measurable Quality: We measure somatic cell counts (SCC) and pay our farmers a substantial premium to achieve low somatic cell counts. An important measurement of the quality of raw milk, low somatic cell counts indicate a healthy cow. State laws allow 750,000 SCC/ml in raw milk. Oberweis milk can only have a maximum of 250,000 SCC/ml, and most of our producers are in the 100,000 – 150,000 range.
  
  
• No Artificial Hormones: The use of the bovine growth hormone (rBGH) is NOT permitted on Oberweis farms, just as on organic farms. Most of our farmers would never even consider using rBGH on the cows because it tends to make the cow more susceptible to infections. This is inconsistent with the great care they provide for their herds. We pay our farmers a substantial premium not to use rBGH.
  
  
• Humane Treatment of Cows: Our small-herd family farmers know their cows by name and treat them accordingly. Their farms are designed to maximize the comfort of the cows rather than the cows’ milk production. By focusing on their animals’ comfort, our farmers have happier and healthier cows that produce higher quality milk.

• Freshness. How many dairies do you know where you can purchase the milk directly from the dairy (rather than an intermediary such as a grocery store)? By purchasing Oberweis milk through our stores or through home delivery, you know you are purchasing fresh milk, and that we have carefully handled your milk prior to your purchase.
  
  The expiration date on milk tells consumers approximately when the milk was pasteurized, but it doesn’t say anything as to how much time elapsed between milking and pasteurization. At Oberweis, we pick milk up from our farms every single day of the year. Unlike many larger dairies, we don’t have any facilities between the farm and our dairy plant, so our milk moves immediately from the farm to our plant where it is pasteurized and bottled very quickly.
  
  Our milk is so fresh that it can be leaving our dairy plant on its way to your home literally the very same day the cow was milked! Now that’s fresh!
  
  
• Gentle Pasteurization: Oberweis milk is gently pasteurized, as fresh milk was meant to be. We gently heat the milk to make it safe to drink for your family, while retaining its delicious flavor and nutrients. Other milk – including nearly all organic milk – is pasteurized using UHT (ultra-high temperature) pasteurization which can extend the shelf life for months but destroys many of the beneficial nutrients in milk. UHT milk in the right packaging (aseptic packaging similar to a juice box) doesn’t even need to be in the refrigerator! Yuck!
  
  Our customers want truly fresh milk that’s safe to drink, retains the nutritional value of milk, and won’t sit on a shelf for weeks or months before they enjoy it!
  
  
• Glass Bottle. Glass bottles are terrific containers to protect Oberweis milk. When our milk in a glass bottle is exposed to room temperature (hopefully for only a very short time), the glass bottle (unlike plastic) insulates the milk from the taste-altering effects of heat. By keeping the milk colder for more time than plastic or cardboard, the flavor is preserved and shelf life is maximized.
  
  In addition, cardboard and most plastic (although not the bottles we use for quarts and 12 ounce milks) give an unpleasant flavor to the milk which gets worse with time. Glass protects the flavor of the terrific milk our farmers provide!
  
  Lastly, our reusable glass bottles are environmentally friendly as the waste created is simply a recyclable cap rather than an entire plastic bottle.

• Family Farms. Oberweis Dairy has established business and collegial relationships with a number of family farms ... many are multigenerational. Rather than purchasing comingled milk from a cooperative of high-output farms, we pay a premium to families who care about producing milk as a way of life. Our milk is taken from their farms to our plant every day rather than being held at an interim location. (Read our Farmers Pledge.)
  
  
• Humane Animal Treatment. We joke that "happy cows give the best milk," but it’s really a true statement. The quality of raw milk improves measurably when a cow is not stressed, and we start with the very best raw milk available. Therefore, it stands to reason that – based on the measurable quality of milk – Oberweis cows experience lower stress.
  
  In addition, our farmers sign a commitment to provide milk from cows treated humanely (instead of cramped, confined living conditions in a barn and never seeing the light of day). For example, when an animal is sick, treatment may include medication, although the milk is discarded until our tests show that it is free of antibiotics. We test for antibiotics before accepting each load of raw milk, and our farmers contractually protect our milk supply from antibiotics. Our farmers pledge to NEVER use rBGH.
  
  Organic certification requires that milk be discarded for 12 months after antibiotic use. This has the unfortunate side effect of making a sick cow such a financial burden to a farm that it must frequently be killed. When this happens, organic farmers generally milk the sick cow (and sell her milk to be bottled as organic) as she gets sicker and sicker and as the quality of her milk deteriorates. She is slaughtered once her milk approaches legal limits.
  
  
• Fresh, Not UHT. In addition, most organic milk is ultra-pasteurized (UHT), which is allowable by the standard for organic milk. During the UHT process, milk is heated to an ultra-high temperature to extend the shelf life for months, likely destroying many valuable nutrients in the process. Oberweis milk is pasteurized as fresh milk has been for generations. We gently heat the milk to the lowest acceptable temperature to kill bacteria but retain taste and nutrients. Our milk is so fresh that it frequently goes from cow to your milkbox in 24 hours!
  
  
• Glass Bottles. Organic milk is not generally provided in glass bottles. This affects both the taste of the milk and care of the environment. Oberweis is committed to providing the best product from our farms to your families.

rBGH Statement

Our customers oppose rBGH Recombinant Growth Hormone. The family farmers who supply our milk have pledged not to treat their cows with rBGH*.

*The FDA states "No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rBGH-treated and non-rBGH treated cows."