Poudre Valley Creamery, Another Local Brand Gone

Another regional dairy brand is disappearing. The Fort Collins, Colorado Poudre Valley Creamery dairy brands will no longer be on the shelves, according to reporter Pat Ferrier of the Fort Collins Coloradoan.

Meadow Gold Dairy’s parent company bought the brand in 2000, but has discontinued it because of low demand, said John Guerin, general manager of Meadow Gold dairy in Greeley. At right, a historic bottle from Welton’s Milk Bottles, a great site on the history of dairy bottles in the west.

Guerin told the Coloradoan that with an influx of residents new to the area, demand for the local label has steadily declined. “People moving in from the outside are not familiar with the brand,” said Guerin, who fondly remembered the McCluskey brothers, who ran the business for decades. “If we get the support for a brand, we will provide it. But if there’s no support, it’s hard to maintain the inventory and distribution.”

We have a different answer. The dairy should look to ways to keep the brand alive. There is interest in the brand, but it needs to be marketed like an elite brand, and not a commodity. Some ideas:

  1. Sell the brand to a regional grocer. Food City brought back Kern’s, a regional bread brand so it could turn it into a store brand.
  2. Produce special cheeses and milk products at holiday times. This will keep the trademark alive, and give the brand some equity, and associate the brand with high-dollar items. And it will also tap into regional nostalgia and goodwill. Read our post on Sealtest to see how a great brand can come back.
  3. Realize that most dairy products are commodity purchases anyway, and things won’t sell more just because you killed off the brand.

Author

  • Garland Pollard

    J. Garland Pollard IV is editor/publisher of BrandlandUSA. Since 2006, the website BrandlandUSA.com has chronicled the history and business of America’s great brands.

7 Comments

  1. I have to say my wife Christina Solano-Clever, is write about Poudre Valley ICE Creme is the best that I have had, it is to bad they are not around, sure could use a bit. MMMMMMMM Ice cream

  2. My dad worked for Poudre Valley for 16 years. He had a delivery route in the Roggen, CO. area. I loved their ice cream!! It certainly was the best ice cream around. Sorry to see this brand go away. If any of you know where I could get my hands on some memorabilia, I would appreciate an email!

    1. Poudre Valley creamery quart bottle for sale.. $25.00

  3. I am missing the Ice Cream so bad. I was born and raised in Fort Collins, I told my husband about the Ice Cream, He also agrees it is the BEST Ice Cream… wish it could come back…

  4. This is so sad. We enjoyed their milk delivery when we lived in Parker, CO, and their egg nog was delicious! Always hate to see local brands/businesses go.

  5. I remember visiting my aunts in Ft. Collins as a child, with my parents. We’d all walk downtown to the Poudre Valley Creamery shop and get ice cream cones. They were very tasty. And much better than Safeway’s brand. It is a fond memory of my childhood! Sharon

  6. In the summer of 1946-47-48-49 my father attended Colorado A&M in Ft Collins so we lived there for 3 months each summer. Was always a treat to go to the Poudre Valley Creamery ice cream shop and get what I thought was the best ice cream in the world.

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