
Our project is to bring fresh, local, yogurt, from grass grazed cows, to the public. All we need is the funding.
Snowville Creamery is a small scale fluid milk processing plant located on a pasture based dairy farm in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in Meigs County. Our company processes and bottles milk and cream from local farmers who use sustainable farming practices. The main sources of our milk are the Dix/Hall farm (where we are located) and Hamm Valley farm in Racine, Ohio.
Our project is to bring fresh, local, yogurt, from grass grazed cows, to the public. We only bottle milk from cows that graze on grass and are not treated with growth hormones. Our plant is built on the farm of our friends, dairy farmers, Bill Dix and Stacy Hall. We pasteurize our milk at the lowest legal temperature and for the shortest legal time, we also choose to not homogenize our milk. Our process lets the milk taste the way it used to, fresh. We have already installed a nano filtration system to cold concentrate our fat free milk for Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams. We can use this technology to make a yogurt which is very high in protein and thick like Greek style yogurt. Our friends and fans have been asking for yogurt since we first brought our wonderful milk to market; all we need now is the funding.
Snowville Creamery is a community conscious company. We have been looking for a way to become “community capitalized” to avoid having to accrue any more debt with financial institutions, which are not lending in any case. As we talked about community funding we learned two things. One is that we cannot have more than a dozen investors without coming under the purview of the Federal Trade Commission, the other is that there is already a platform for crowd funding: Kickstarter. So we don’t have to reinvent the “wheel of fortune” just to bring our wonderful grass grazed yogurt to the marketplace.
FAQ
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Following is an estimate for the $50,000 figure for the Yogurt Project.
Capital Equipment
Filler - 8, 16, 32 oz. filler, sealer, lidder 5,500
Dater 1,000
Filler Supply Pump 3,000
Sanitary Valve 1,500
Process & CIP Piping 5,000
Power Electrical (2) 3 Phase motors 6,000
Process Electrical 3,000
Incubator/Cooler Equipment 2,000
Blast Cooling Fans 1,000
Subtotal Capital Equipment $28,000
Packaging/Marketing
Graphic Design Cartons 3,000
Graphic Design Point of Sale 1,000
Graphic Design Marketing Materials 1,000
3 month extra marketing efforts 6,000
Subtotal Packaging/Marketing $11,000
Operating Capital
Containers - initial order of 60 day supply 3,000
Receivables - 30 days sales 8,000
Subtotal Operating Capital $11,000
TOTAL YOGURT PROJECT COSTS $50,000As you see, the equipment and its installation is the majority of the project. The main expense there is for the filler itself, and the electrical mechanical work and sanitary piping required to get yogurt to the filler.
We also have costs to provide an incubator to hold the yogurt at about body temperature, 100°F, until it’s ready to cool to 40°F. We will produce this yogurt as “set in the cup” classic European style. That means that the yogurt is not preset, cultured, in a larger tank, cooled and then filled into containers. It is put into the container warm, is then held several hours while the cultures grow, and then is cooled in place without moving, so as to not destroy the natural gel structure of the yogurt and cause the whey to separate.
About a quarter of the project is for packaging and related marketing.
We’ve also included the necessary capital to purchase the containers and have a month’s worth of sales out in the marketplace before we receive receivables back from the retailer.
The vast majority of costs necessary to produce yogurt are for equipment that we already have and operate for milk, cream, and Jeni’s ice cream. The other stroke of good fortune is the yogurt filler was very inexpensive. A used filler like this in poor condition and requiring refurbishing often costs many times more than the price we are going to have to pay for a filler in good condition.
314
Backers
$22,130
pledged of $50,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on February 10, 2012.
Funding period
Dec 27, 2011 -
Feb 10, 2012
(45 days)
- First created · 1 backed
- Warren Taylor 214 friends
- Website: snowvillecreamery.com
Pledge $2 or more
52 backers
For a pledge of $2.00 you will receive a heartfelt “thank you” on the Facebook page of Warren Taylor and the Facebook page of Snowville Creamery.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $25 or more
66 backers
For a pledge of $25.00 we will give a Swag Bag containing three different Snowville Creamery logo buttons, three round vinyl logo stickers, and a 4” vinyl decal. You will also be thanked and acknowledged on our Facebook pages.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $50 or more
59 backers
For a pledge of $50.00 you will receive your choice of Snowville Creamery Art Poster designed and signed by graphic artist Kevin Morgan, ready to frame. There are over a dozen designs that can be seen on our website.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $100 or more
28 backers
For a pledge of $100.00 you will receive a copy of the Friends of Snowville Creamery Recipe Book, Volume 1, signed to you by Warren and Victoria Taylor, Co-owners of Snowville Creamery. This is a compilation of favorite recipes from the staff and supporters of Snowville Creamery including Jeni Britton-Bauer of Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams, Michael Jones of The Greener Grocer, Angel King of Blue Jacket Dairy, Lorraine Walker of Silver Bridge Coffee Co., Jaime Moore of Wayward Seed Farms, and many others.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $150 or more
11 backers
For a pledge of $150.00 you will receive an Art Poster of your choice, signed by artist Kevin Morgan, and a Recipe Book signed by Warren and Victoria Taylor.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $200 or more
7 backers
For a pledge of $200.00 you will receive a signed poster, a signed Recipe Book, a Snowville Creamery T-shirt and the Swag Bag described above.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $500 or more
7 backers
For a pledge of $500.00 you will receive a private tour of the Creamery for you, your family and friends (up to 10 people), The Friends of Snowville Creamery Recipe Book, a Signed Art Poster, a T-shirt, the Swag Bag and an acknowledgement on Snowville Creamery’s Facebook page.
Estimated delivery: Mar 2012Pledge $1,000 or more
3 backers
For a pledge of $1,000.00 you and a guest (2 people) will be treated to a great locavore dinner with Warren & Victoria Taylor, you, your family, and friends(up to 10 people) will receive a private tour of the Creamery, and you will receive the Friends of Snowville Creamery Recipe Book, a Signed Art Poster your choice, a T-shirt, Swag Bag, and a “Thank You” on the Snowville Creamery Facebook page.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2012