Go Big with Gib Podcast
Go Big with Gib is a podcast for professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs to talk about their big wins.
Go Big with Gib Podcast
Behind the Churn: The Heart of Simply Natural Creamery
Curious about how two Jersey cows revolutionized a family business? Join us as we chat with Raeanne Knight from Simply Natural Creamery, who unveils the incredible journey of the Moye family. Discover how Neil and David Moye transformed a small farm into a thriving creamery with four bustling locations. From a humble start teaching their children responsibility, to creating a local haven with 40 ice cream flavors, the Moye brothers’ story is a testament to passion and commitment. Raeanne shares insider details about their on-site dairy processing and customer-favorite flavors like butter pecan and salted caramel. Simply Natural Creamery is more than just a business; it's a community staple.
What makes Jersey cows the cream of the crop? Find out as Raeanne delves into their unique traits and contributions to premium dairy production. We explore the farm's dedication to education through engaging tours that welcome thousands of school visitors monthly, emphasizing the significance of knowing where our food comes from. Experience the farm's vibrant seasonal offerings, from lively summer ice cream sessions to cozy winter hot chocolate moments, and learn about the opportunities these shifts provide both guests and the farm. Tune in for a heartwarming glimpse into the world of Simply Natural Creamery, where family values and quality dairy create an unforgettable experience. Follow us at Gib Irons for more updates!
Follow us on Social Media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/gibirons1
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gibirons/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gibirons/
Website: https://theironslawfirm.com/about/gib-irons
Welcome to the Go Big With Gibb podcast, where we talk to professionals, business owners and entrepreneurs about their big wins. Hey guys, what's going on? Welcome to this episode of Go Big With Gibb. Today, I've got Raeann Knight here with me from Simply Natural Creamery. Raeann, how are you today?
Speaker 2:Pretty good. Pretty good today. How are you?
Speaker 1:I'm doing great. I'm doing great. It's good to be with you, appreciate you having us out here. It's a beautiful day out at the farm and we appreciate you having us. Let's talk a little bit about the creamery. So who owns the creamery?
Speaker 2:So the farm was started by two brothers. They are Mr Neil and Mr David Moy. They started just by farming and then, once each of them started having families and kids, they just decided to get a pet and they got two Jersey cows and kind of just was born right there.
Speaker 1:Wow. So Neal and David Moy, when did they open the creamery?
Speaker 2:The creamery, the storefront, opened in about October of 2014, but they didn't start getting cows and you know starting this process until about 2009,. 2012 is when they really started. You know milking cows, doing all that kind of stuff, but they didn't start the actual processing or anything until 2014.
Speaker 1:Okay, how many locations are there? How many creamery locations are there?
Speaker 2:Four, I think. So we have the farm, which everything comes from here, right, we don't ship anything out. You know, milk trucks don't come here, take the milk and go somewhere else and make everything. We do that right here. And then we have the store in Greenville, moorhead City, and then we just opened one in Wilson.
Speaker 1:I don't think I've been to the one in Wilson, but it's nice. It's a lot.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's about the same size as Greenville and the Moorhead City is pretty small.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I've been to the Greenville store many, many, many times, love. I probably go there about once a week with the kids.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:And we love it and we'd go more if I had anything to say about it. And then I've been to the one in Moorhead City as well. It's really nice. So how did the family get into the ice cream business?
Speaker 2:From what I know they just started. I mean the kids started, you know, milking the cows. It was kind of their choice to teach their, or their opportunity to teach their kids about you know, livestock responsibility, how to care for other things. I mean I always tell people that come on the tour for the farm. You know parents usually start with like a dog or a cat or a fish you know, and they're trying to make it really simple for the kids.
Speaker 2:They decided to go all in on Jersey cows. Each of the siblings had, you know, a role to play, so some of them had to actually, like, feed the cows. Some of them had to, you know, milk the cows, check on the cows. One of the siblings, her job was to actually make butter for the cows because she was a little bit scared of them. So her job was making butter.
Speaker 1:Very cool. So it sounds like it happened kind of organically. They had bought a couple of cows as pets to teach the kids responsibility and how to tend to the farm and things of that nature, and then it kind of just organically became something.
Speaker 2:Yeah, they had a bunch of their friends, you know, ask about milk and butter and that kind of stuff. They just were like, well, if we have a couple of friends asking for it, you know, I guess a lot of Greene County is going to be asking for milk here pretty soon. So then they just built the store.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so cool. So how many flavors of ice cream do you sell?
Speaker 2:There's about 40, 40 flavors there about.
Speaker 1:And are those 40 flavors like offered year round, or are there any of them that are seasonal?
Speaker 2:There's some of them that are seasonal. So, um, right now we are getting ready for the holiday show in Greenville. So then after that, that's when we'll start pushing, like you know, all of our Christmas ice cream, so like the old Christmas tree ice cream which everyone loved um last year. Then we have our cinnamon bun, peppermint twist, all that kind of stuff, and then in the summer we'll lean into more of, like you know, the key lime pie, that kind of ice cream.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, we do try to switch them out. Yeah, I thought you did, because occasionally I'll see one offer for a short period of time and then it's not there for a little bit, and I'll miss it and want it back. Which flavor is the most popular?
Speaker 2:Butter pecan, for sure is our most popular. Second most popular would be salty caramel.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay popular.
Speaker 2:Second most popular would be salted caramel.
Speaker 1:Okay, okay neither of those are my favorite.
Speaker 2:I really like the coffee toffee one. But yeah, a lot of people love the butter, pecan, butter, pecan.
Speaker 1:Okay, I'll have to try that. I don't think I've ever tried that before. I'm kind of a cookies and cream type of guy and I really love the peanut butter too, but they're two totally different brownies.
Speaker 2:Really good too. Yeah, I know I know a lot of people like that one.
Speaker 1:I'll go with the plain peanut butter. Brownie is really good too. Yeah, I know a lot of people like that one. I'll go with the plain peanut butter more often than not, but it's kind of like the cookies and cream is like the sweeter one and the peanut butter, you know, is not sweet. Yeah, this episode of Go Big with Gibb is brought to you by Irons Equity. At Irons Equity, we specialize in helping investors like you create long-term generational wealth and save money on taxes through recession-resistant real estate investments that create passive income for you and your family. If you want to secure your financial future, go to investwithgibbcom to schedule a 30-minute introductory meeting with me. Gibb Irons Again, that's investwithgibbcom. To schedule a 30-minute introductory meeting with me Gibb Irons Again, that's InvestWithGibbcom. So why are Jersey cows so special? What is it about them that makes them so special for making ice cream and milk and butter and things like that?
Speaker 2:So they first off. They're super sweet girls. So I mean, when you come out here to the farm on the tour, you actually get to see all of our calves and a lot.
Speaker 2:They're really good with kids you know, as long as the kids don't run up and scream at them, you know. The main reason, though, is because they produce a very special kind of protein called A2, beta casein. So, people who are lactose intolerant, you get that A1 dominant milk from your black and white or Holstein cows, or the Chick-fil-A cows, that's what we like to call them. You get that A1 dominant, so that protein is a little bit it's harder on the stomach for people who are lactose intolerant, but people who have the A2 dominant milk, or that A2, a2 milk, it's a little bit easier. You know, we always tell people, don't, you know, jump in right away, because we, you know it, everyone. It depends on the person, really.
Speaker 2:So sure yeah chocolate milk is easier to digest. So I always tell people try, try it out with the chocolate milk first and then kind of build up and see, you know, a lot of people can just do the kid scoop that size before it starts to hurt their stomach. You know too much of it, um. And then some people can do like the full banana split milkshake, whole ordeal. But yeah, that A2 dominant milk is why Jersey cows are special.
Speaker 1:And do they actually come from New Jersey? I mean, I know y'all have a lot of cows that are born here on the farm, but I guess originally are they from New Jersey.
Speaker 2:They're from, like, the old Jersey, so it's the Isle of Jersey, off the coast of France. Okay, yeah, so they didn't make it over into America until about the late 1800s. Okay, cool, cool, I never knew that that's really interesting Trick question, yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so how many cows do you have on the farm?
Speaker 2:About 400. So it does change somewhat daily. Just you know when we have a cow born. But that 400 number encompasses all the baby cows, all the teenagers, all the working moms, you know, all of our pregnant moms, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 1:Cool. And how much milk do the cows produce each day?
Speaker 2:So right now we are milking three times a day. So in the summer, right, we need a lot of milk and ice cream. People like milk and ice cream in the summer, so we need a lot of milk. So we'll milk them three times a day. In the winter we bump it down to two times, just because people don't like to eat ice cream when it gets super cold, but you still like hot chocolate. But, with that being said, they can produce about eight to 12 gallons of milk. Again, it kind of depends on the person, or on the cow, on the cow, sure yeah.
Speaker 2:So it just depends on the cow. You know each cow is different, but around that eight to 12 number per day.
Speaker 1:Eight to 12 gallons per day per cow. And you've got 400 cows out here, but not all of them are producing milk obviously.
Speaker 2:So we have between 180 to 200 cows that are actually milking.
Speaker 1:Milk producing? Okay, very cool. Why is it so important for you all to have people able to come out here to the farm take a tour, walk around, see how things go? I know that's an important part of your business model and it's just a super unique thing. You know that is outside of just the ice cream shop. Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:So Mr David and Mr Neal and their wives were really big into you know, teaching people where the milk actually comes from, how we get this process done, what the cows eat. You know everything has to start somewhere. So it was very important for Miss Jackie to teach people you know, the kids the milk comes from the cow. It doesn't just show up in the grocery store and the cows have to eat food and we have to buy the seeds for the cow's food. So she wanted to kind of show that entire process. So I mean we like having people come out to the farm, just if it does start with just coming to get ice cream, you know it kind of opens their eyes so they can see the entire process of. You know it takes a long time for the cows to actually produce milk. So we have to start with them as a baby, you know they grow up, you know they get pregnant and then they can start producing milk. So we really just wanted to show that whole process.
Speaker 1:That's really cool. I didn't ask you this question previously but I'm curious. Do you happen to know about how many people come out here to visit the farm each year?
Speaker 2:Each year I don't off the top of my head, I know just for school groups we have about a thousand people a month, A thousand students, Students parents teachers, yeah, so, yeah so.
Speaker 2:And then I mean it's a lot yeah, so it just depends on when how big the school is, you know, and when they come, you know we'll have a lot of kids come either in october or they'll come right there around uh, april. Those are really good times to come to the farm and get super busy, but we do have a lot of people coming. Like I said, in the winter we don't get as many people coming, but come get the hot chocolate. The hot chocolate is super good and then in the summer we'll start picking up on those bigger groups coming to get ice cream.
Speaker 1:Okay, cool. Well, can we take a tour of the facilities? Yeah, for sure. All right, great, Thank you. Yeah, thank you for listening to this episode of Go Big with Gibb. If you haven't already, go follow us on social media at GibbIrons. We'll see you next time.