Old-fashioned Technology Yields Modern Day Success for Southeast's Largest Dairy.

ATHENS, Tenn. -- In 1955, when companies were unveiling such high-tech marvels as microwave ovens and wireless television remotes, Tom and C. Scott Mayfield were investing in a lesser-known technology that would become the cornerstone of their small dairy's modern day success.

The Mayfields banked on a promising new vacuum heat technology guaranteed to yield a better tasting milk, thus boosting sales. Five years after mortgaging the family farm to build the Southeast's first modern milk processing plant, the sons of dairy founder T.B. Mayfield, Jr., purchased the nation's first vacreator -- a vacuum processor used to remove unwanted flavors and odors from milk -- for installation in their Athens, Tenn., milk plant.

"The taste of onions and other strong flavors in a cow's diet alter the taste of milk," said President Scottie Mayfield, the fourth generation of the Mayfield family to be directly involved in the dairy's operation. "When we first began using the vacreator to remove unwanted flavors, it was instant success. Sales jumped 25 percent that year."

Today Mayfield is the only dairy in the country that still uses a vacuum heat process to pasteurize milk. Many in the industry have used the technology only to abandon it in search of less costly processing solutions. In the late 1990s the dairy designed and commissioned the construction of additional vacreators for its milk plants in Athens and Braselton, Georgia, after learning the machine was no longer being made.

"Milk isn't just milk," says Mayfield. "We make sure each jug of Mayfield milk has the same fresh, consistent taste all year round."

The Vacuum Heat Process

The vacreator injects dry steam into the milk, raising the temperature from 160 to 168 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk then enters the vacuum chamber where it boils. As it boils, the vapors containing the unwanted flavors and odors are removed and the temperature is reduced back to approximately 158 degrees Fahrenheit. Conventional pasteurization is then resumed on the vacuum-treated milk.

The dairy's exacting standards for ensuring the quality of its products has earned it a place among the nation's leading branded milks. In fact, in areas throughout the Southeast, Mayfield's share of milk sales is as much as ten times the average market share of the nation's other branded milks. And according to recent IRI data, Mayfield claims nearly 45 percent of the share of total milk sales in its home base of East Tennessee, a position held by only two other dairies in the nation.

"Mayfield has established the true meaning of consumer loyalty. They've provided consistently superb products over time, and have a sincere interest in forging a relationship with their consumers," said Kurt Graetzer, executive director of the Milk Processor Education Program, the division of the International Dairy Foods Association that runs the national "milk mustache" promotion campaign. "There are very few dairies in the country that nurture the relationship with the consumer like Mayfield does."

Mayfield's Exacting Standards

Mayfield's trademark yellow jug, introduced in 1983, preserves freshness and blocks out light to protect the milk's flavor and nutrients. The jugs are still made in its Athens and Braselton plants, which launched the first successful in-plant blow-mold operation in 1970 and became the first dairy in the United States to blow, convey, fill, cap and case plastic gallons in a continuous operation just one year later.

Mayfield's direct distribution from milk production line to grocery store shelves allows the company to control the freshness and coldness of its milk, preserving taste and shelf life.

About Mayfield Dairy Farms

Founded in 1912, Mayfield Dairy Farms offers a full line of milk products in Atlanta and North Georgia, East Tennessee and Greenville, S.C. Tours of the dairy's milk plants in Athens, Tenn. and Braselton, Ga. give an inside look into history, nutrition, science, technology, research and development and great flavor. In Athens, free plant tours begin every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday. In Braselton, free plant tours begin every 30 minutes from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. To learn more about Mayfield's Visitors Centers and other topics visit www.mayfielddairy.com.