Farm fresh, family made
Goode’s Riverside Creamery opens in Liberty
GREG AND JOY GOODE are bucking a trend.
During their 21 years of marriage and 19 years of dairy farming together, they have watched as both the numbers of dairy farms and dairy cows in Kentucky have decreased at least 50%.
But the Casey County couple has “dairy in our blood, I guess,” Greg quips. In April, they opened Goode’s Riverside Creamery. The processing and bottling operation is supplied exclusively with milk from their relatively small herd.
“We want to be able to make a living off 50 or 60 cows,” Greg explains. “We wanted to continue milking. And with the way times are now, it’s typically either get bigger or get out. But we didn’t want to milk 1,000 cows. We wanted to milk but stay small.”
Open seven days a week, the Liberty business is both a retail storefront and a processor, bottling and selling whole milk, low-fat milk and chocolate milk; as well as selling 16 flavors of ice cream, butter, local meats, honey and other Kentucky Proud products.
“We’ve had a great response,” Greg says. “A lot of people want to know where their food comes from.”
The couple researched their business plan for six years, traveling to several different states and touring family farms and small creameries.
“Our main goal is to be able to use all of our own milk from here on our farm, and if the sales go well, we’ll purchase milk from other farms in the area,” Greg says.
“We’re trying to keep it local,” he adds. “Our goal is to support our community, and that includes working with other small farms to keep everything as fresh and local as possible.”
Their dedication to community and quality hasn’t gone unnoticed. Jeff Williams, president and CEO of Taylor County RECC, expresses his support: “In a short period of time, Goode’s Riverside Creamery has already become an important business for our community. We’re proud to see local entrepreneurs like Greg and Joy make a lasting impact.”
As for Greg, he’s thrilled with the positive reception, but remains grounded. “It’s been a lot of hard work, but seeing people enjoy our products makes it all worth it,” he says.
Room with a moo view
When Goode’s Riverside Creamery opened in April, it not only became a place for homegrown dairy and Kentucky Proud products, but also a tourist destination. A large window in the store’s retail area offers a wide view of the milk processing and bottling operation. “You can watch milk go directly into the bottles,” says Greg Goode, who owns the business with his wife, Joy. “That’s about as transparent as you can get.” Within the first two weeks of opening its doors, the shop was visited by seven school and FFA groups, Goode says. “We’re hoping to educate as well as give them some good food, and maybe they’ll appreciate farmers.”
