1979

THE RURAL EDUCATION CENTER (TREC)
Samuel and Louise Kaymen establish The Rural Education Center in Wilton, NH, a nonprofit organization devoted to teaching rural and homesteading skills with an emphasis on organic food production. What's this have to do with Stonyfield Farm? Keep reading.

1982

A SEED IS PLANTED
Enter "idea man" Gary Hirshberg, recruited as a board member of The Rural Education Center to help implement a business strategy and generate financial support. Gary leads the trustees in a process to devise alternate strategies, and one of the ideas is to expand the farm and make yogurt production a serious financial venture. Aha, now you see where this is going!

1983 - 1985

STONYFIELD FARM YOGURT
A COMPANY IS BORN
We receive a $35,000 loan from the Institute for Community Economics, including $25,000 from the Sisters of Mercy as start-up funding for our enterprise.
On April 9, 1983, we produce our first 50-gallon batch of yogurt and begin making whole milk plain yogurt for sale. It's still one of our top sellers today!

In September, Gary joins the Kaymens full-time, with the dream of turning this small-scale yogurt company into a thriving business that will fund The Rural Education Center while advancing its educational and agricultural missions.

"Without the Kaymen kids doing cow chores, making yogurt, shrink-wrapping orders, and getting up at all hours of the night (when they were needed) we would not have been able to "hang in there" in those first years." - Louise Kaymen

Company profile: 2 families, 7 Jersey cows, a great recipe and a dream
Cases produced each week: 150
Annual sales: $56,000

1986

We Outgrow the Farm
WE OUTGROW THE FARM
Our quaint little hilltop farm with all its quirks and inefficiencies is no longer able to keep up with our customer demand. Repeatedly, pumps break down, pipes freeze, every square inch of the 1852 barn is converted to cup and lid storage, and trailer trucks get stuck on the long dirt road leading to the farm. We don't see how we can finance a proper facility on our own, so we opt (gulp) to have our yogurt made elsewhere.

1987

A CLOSE CALL Our co-packer falls into bankruptcy and nearly takes us with them.
The bank shuts them down and creditors attach the building and all the assets inside, including our equipment, cups and lids, ingredients and finished goods. We lose our means of production.
Over 4 days, Samuel and Gary restart the original Yogurt Works, working around-the-clock to ensure the next week's shipments. To meet orders, we run 3 shifts per day, 7 days per week and Samuel and Gary take turns working without sleep every other night. This continues for a year. Still, we lose about $30,000 each week but miraculously we manage to stay afloat.
Essentially bankrupt, Samuel and Gary meet with a Vermont dairy firm that has agreed to invest in our company. When the long-awaited deal closing finally arrives, instead of the 100-page agreement that had been negotiated, they are presented with a 1-page deal that amounts to a takeover. Samuel and Gary walk out without signing and on the 5-hour drive home in a blizzard, they begin designing a new plant.
We begin earnestly raising money and moving ahead on building a new facility that could contain our small company and allow room for real growth. Gary successfully obtains a loan guarantee from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) and several investors chip in. We find a landlord willing to take a risk and sign a lease for 21,000 sq. ft. at this location in Londonderry (Wilton has only 1,500 sq. ft.).

1988 - 1990

Where There's A Will There's A Way
WHERE THERE'S A WILL THERE'S A WAY
We begin building our Yogurt Works plant. In December, our manufacturing and shipping folks relocate to Londonderry. The company is literally drowning in debt, but everyone is thrilled, especially Meg Hirshberg and Louise Kaymen, who wake up one day to find the farm quiet for the first time in years.

Number of employees: 32
Cases produced each week: 3,525
Annual sales: $1,100,000

1989

MOOS FROM THE FARM
Our first Moosletter is published. Gary creates the Stonyfield Farm Moo Patrol to recruit customers who desire to be kept informed about our company and products. The Moo Patrol spreads the word to other quality-minded customers.

Number of employees: 42
Cases produced each week: 8,050
Annual sales: $2,500,000

1990

ADOPT-A-COW
We launch the Stonyfield Farm Adopt-A-Cow (later renamed Have-A-Cow) Program to create awareness of the link between the food we eat and our environment, and to teach consumers about the value of supporting family farmers and sustainable farming methods.

CLIMBING THE LADDER
Stonyfield Farm is listed as #113 on INC 500's 1990 List of Fastest Growing Companies in the USA.

1992

YO! GURT!
We hold a contest to name our cow. Elizabeth Malakie of Church Falls, VA suggests "Gertie" so that when we call her, we say, "Yo! Gert!" Our beloved mascot is named Gurt.

1993

ADVANCING THE MISSION
With our company now safely afloat, we're able to return to devoting more resources to the accomplishment of our environmental goals. We embark on environmental initiatives, from establishing an extensive recycling program and energy retrofit of our Yogurt Works, to working with Oxfam America to promote sustainable agriculture worldwide.

MORE CULTURE IN EVERY CUP
Bifidus live active culture is added to all of our yogurts as part of our ongoing commitment to produce the healthiest yogurt possible.

Number of employees: 90
Cases produced each week: 40,064
Annual sales: $12,500,000

1994

PROFITS FOR THE PLANET
We launch our Profits for the Planet Program and begin giving 10% of our company profits annually to efforts that help protect and restore the earth.

NO rBGH
As Monsanto successfully convinces the FDA to allow sales of their controversial synthetic bovine growth hormone, rBGH, we become the first dairy in America to secure agreements with milk suppliers to ensure that the milk we use to make our yogurt comes from untreated cows.

Number of Employees: 96
Cases produced each week: 50,500
Annual sales: $15,400,000

1995 - 1997

CERTIFIED ORGANIC
We start making Certified Organic Yogurt

PUT A LID ON GLOBAL WARMING
We team up with the Union of Concerned Scientists to raise awareness of global warming. We begin offsetting our plant's CO₂ emissions and develop a guide, "Reversing Global Warming: Offsetting Carbon Dioxide Emissions", for other businesses and individuals interested in decreasing their impact on climate change.

1998 - 1999

STONYFIELD FARM GOES ONLINE

BURSTING AT THE SEAMS
We expand our production facility, adding an additional 18,000 sq. ft. to meet growing demands.

RATTLING THE INDUSTRY
We launch Yobaby, the first certified organic whole milk yogurt for babies and toddlers.

Number of employees: 142
Cases produced each week: 172,000
Annual sales: $56,000,000

2000

A LITTLE EXTRA HEALTH INSURANCE
We're the first yogurt brand to add inulin, a natural dietary fibre proven to increase calcium absorption.

"MOOVING" ON
After 17 years in the yogurt-making business, Samuel retires as an employee (but remains on the Board of Directors).

Number of employees: 151
Cases produced each week: 192,000
Annual sales: $66,400,000

2001

A UNIQUE PARTNERSHIP
We enter into a partnership with the France-based consumer products company, Groupe Danone. This provides cost-saving synergies, allows us to continue growing through mission-driven initiatives, and enables Danone to participate in the rapidly-growing organic and natural dairy segment.

2004

THINKING OUTSIDE THE LUNCHBOX
To improve the eating habits of children while they're in school, we sponsor organic and all-natural snack vending machines in schools from California to Connecticut.

NEW ARRIVALS-REAL AND VIRTUAL
Our very popular line of Smoothies expands with Vanilla and Tropical Banana; MOOve Over Carbs is our first low-carb product; Juice Smoothies debut with two flavours; Yobaby expands to Yobaby Plus Fruit & Cereal; we add Chocolate to O'Soy; our line of quart yogurts goes completely organic.

The Web site, Stonyfield.com, enjoys a complete makeover, and Web logs (blogs) are added to continue online conversations with our customers.

2005

ON THE "MOOVE" AGAIN
We move offices temporarily while we begin an expansion of our production facilities and a "green" office building at 10 Burton Drive.

PARTNERS AND PAIRINGS-TEAMING UP WITH LIKE-MINDED FOLKS
We team up with extreme skateboarder Bob Burnquist, a fan of organics; we enlist Dr. William Sears (considered "America's Pediatrician") to reach out to yogurt-loving parents and their kids.

GET MOVING AND JUNK THE JUNK FOOD
More healthy vending machines, subsidized by Stonyfield, are installed in schools and we create Good2Go, a before-school nutrition and activity program to help kids start the day with exercise and a healthy breakfast.

PLANET HEATING UP, WE STEP UP OUR ACTIONS
CE'Yo Gary joins the first Virtual March on Washington to help stop global warming and invites others to march; one of our lids encourages yogurt-eaters to offset their own contributions to global warming by investing in renewable energy projects; we install solar panels to bring renewable energy to our production plant.

2006

STONYFIELD HEADS NORTH
Thanks to our partnership with Groupe Danone, we begin producing Stonyfield Farm yogurt in Quebec. Now Canadians can enjoy the delicious taste of Stonyfield Farm yogurt from coast to coast.