Straus Family Creamery’s New Wholesale Bag-In-Box, Organic Milk Now on the Menu at UC Santa Barbara

Petaluma, Calif., February 26, 2013 /3BL Media/ – Northern California organic dairy pioneer Straus Family Creamery is pleased to introduce organic, 5-gallon bag-in-box milk, a brand new wholesale product designed especially for foodservice operations. Already in the glasses of thousands of University of California Santa Barbara (UCSB) students, this milk fits seamlessly with the growing sustainable food movement on college campuses, including the University of California system. 

Straus Family Creamery’s organic, bag-in-box milk is a natural choice for colleges and universities. The bag-in-box product is more convenient in a cafeteria setting than traditional milk cartons, and creates significantly less packaging waste. It also allows students to dispense just the amount of milk they would actually drink, thereby reducing food waste, which has become a significant topic of concern in the United States. All components of the bag-in-box system, including the liner, box, and valve, are BPA-free and fully recyclable.

Straus Family Creamery is strongly committed to offering their sustainably-produced, organic dairy foods to college students throughout California. “Many college students find themselves in a situation where, for the first time in their lives, they make their own food choices,” says Jill Horst, Director of Residential Dining at UCSB, “Our food program catches them at this critical time, and steers them toward healthful and environmentally responsible food choices. Featuring organic milk from Straus Family Creamery deepens our commitment to the health and well-being of our students.”

Increased costs remain a consideration when switching to organic products. Yet UCSB’s Executive Chef, Jaime Herrera, was able to switch all milk served on campus from conventional to organic by finding creative ways to restructure the school’s foodservice program to lower its overall costs, which in turn, allows him to purchase sustainably-produced and certified organic foods.

“We’re proud to work with UCSB’s forward-thinking dining services and are happy to offer an affordable and healthy alternative to University students,” says Albert Straus, President of Straus Family Creamery. “Our certified organic and non-GMO verified milk is great for students, and in addition, provides significant benefits to family farms in California.”

Bag-in-box packaging is an important component of Straus Family Creamery’s environmental commitments, which are integrated at every level of the operation and company culture, ranging from pioneering adoption of organic certification and Non-GMO Project Verification, to carbon-footprint reduction, to broader work in service of a sustainable food system in the United States.

###

About Straus Family Creamery

Straus Family Creamery is a Northern California, certified organic, artisan creamery offering cream-top milk, yogurt, butter, ice cream, sour cream and a variety of wholesale and specialty dairy products distributed throughout Northern California. Based in Marshall, CA, Straus Family Creamery makes its minimally-processed dairy products from organic milk supplied by a handful of family farms in Marin and Sonoma Counties, including the Straus family dairy. Straus Family Creamery sustains collaborative relationships with dairy farmers, offering stable prices and predictability in what is, otherwise, a volatile marketplace. Always a pioneer, in 1994, the Straus family dairy was the first to be certified organic in the Western United States. In 2010, the Straus Family Creamery became the first creamery in the nation to be Non-GMO Project Verified. Straus Family Creamery bases business decisions upon environmental and ecological considerations, grounded in sustainable, organic family farming. It does this for the health and well-being of the company, farmers, employees and the community it serves.