Jones Dairy Farm facts for kids
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food |
| Founded | 1889 |
| Headquarters | Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, U.S. |
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Key people
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Milo Jones |
| Products | breakfast sausage, bacon, ham, scrapple, liver sausage |
Jones Dairy Farm is a food company in the United States. It's owned by a private family. They make many meat products. These include breakfast sausage, ham, and bacon. They also make Canadian bacon, scrapple, and liver sausage. The company started in 1889. The Jones family has run the business ever since Milo C. Jones founded it.
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How Jones Dairy Farm Started
In 1832, Milo Jones moved to Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He came from Vermont with his family. He started a traditional dairy farm there. This farm mainly produced cheese. They also raised pigs for their own food.
Milo C. Jones was born in 1849. He soon began working on the family farm. When he was 35, he got rheumatoid arthritis. This made it hard for him to work on the farm. In 1889, his family needed money. So, Milo C. Jones decided to make sausage. He used his mother's old family recipe from Vermont. He made the sausage in the family's cheese room. His way of making sausage was special. He used good cuts of pork like ham, loin, and shoulder. Other sausage makers often used pork trimmings.
Milo C. Jones first sold his sausage to local stores. He also sold it to neighbors and friends in Wisconsin. Soon, he expanded to bigger cities. These included Chicago, New York City, and Boston. He started shipping his products by train. Milo also advertised his products a lot. This was different from most sausage makers then. He first used direct mail. Later, he advertised in national magazines. These included Saturday Evening Post, Literary Digest, and Good Housekeeping. This started as early as 1903.
Innovations in the Meat Industry
Jones Dairy Farm was a leader in many ways. In the 1920s, they were the first meat company to quick-freeze sausage. This allowed them to ship products across the U.S. and even abroad. They didn't need to use chemical preservatives.
The company was also the first to sell fully cooked breakfast sausage. They were also one of the first to offer a "light" breakfast sausage. Jones Dairy Farm was also one of the first to have a modern bacteriological lab. This lab was on-site. It helped them check and test food safety. The company meets high standards for testing. They are recognized by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation. This group formally recognizes testing labs.
Jones Family Leadership
Milo C. Jones Jr. passed away in 1919. His daughter, Mary, became the president. Her nephew, Alan Jones, took over in 1960. Then his brother, Edward Jones, became president in the 1970s. Alan's son, Milo C. Jones III, became president in 1983. Edward C. Jones, Jr. became the seventh president in 1995. His son, Philip Jones, became president and CEO in 2001. Philip is the great-great grandson of the founder, Milo C. Jones.
The Farm's Location
Jones Dairy Farm is located on 300 acres of land. This area includes the factory and crop fields. It also has the original farmhouse from 1843. That's where Milo Jones I first lived.
On December 27, 1978, much of the property was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This means it's a special historical site. It includes an old barn built around 1839. There's also a greenhouse from the 1840s. A horse barn from the mid-1800s is also there. The farmhouse itself was built in stages. It started in the 1840s and was expanded later. The sausage kitchen was added in 1907. Other houses built by Jones family members are also part of the historic site.
Products Offered
Jones Dairy Farm still uses the original breakfast sausage recipe from 1889. It has not changed. They also make hams, bacon, and Canadian bacon. Liver sausage and scrapple are also part of their products. They sell these to stores and food service businesses. You can find them in supermarkets. You can also order them from the company's website. Jones Dairy Farm also owns other scrapple makers, Habbersett and Rapa.
Community Involvement
Jones Dairy Farm offers many products that are certified gluten-free. They are certified by the Gluten-Free Certification Organization. Jones also helps raise awareness about celiac disease. They sponsor the Celiac Disease Foundation. They are also a benefactor member of the Celiac Sprue Association.
In 2015, Jones sponsored a scholarship. This scholarship was for cooking students. It was given at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
