The Dairy Blog

The question that I hear most often from consumers is "Where can I find my favorite flavor of Mayfield ice cream?"  Sometimes, the person has moved or is moving to a new area and wants to know what stores carry our products (this can be ice cream and/or milk).  Or they have gone shopping and when they stopped at the ice cream display to pick up a carton of their favorite Mayfield flavor (mine is Moose Tracks) there was none on the shelf and no one at the store could tell them why.  I also hear from people who remember ice cream flavors we had when they were young and they want to know if we are ever going to make them again.  If you ever experience a similar situation, then feel free to pick up the phone and call us (1-800-MAYFIELD) or send us an e-mail and we'll get the answer for you.

I have already received several questions from our blog readers, and enjoyed reading and answering them - so keep them coming!        

See ya!

Jan

Good Afternoon I am Tangela Arnwine and I have the fortunate opportunity to serve in the capacity of Division  Human Resource Manager for Mayfield Dairy.  Having grown up in Niota/Athens area I have been employed at Mayfield for approx. 10 years.  Mayfield Dairy employs approx. 1800 employees with all jobs being listed at the local Department of Labor.  We are very proud of our employees and their contribution to our company.  

Early in our careers Scottie and I attended the big Dairy Industry trade show known simply as “The Dairy Show.” The exhibits literally filled acres of display space, displaying the latest in machinery, packaging and ingredients. Dairy Shows had thousands of attendees, sometimes exceeding twenty thousand people from all over the world.

The Dairy show is the first time I realized how special my father is. Every exhibitor wanted to show Tom Mayfield the newest technology because they knew that if Mayfield bought it then others in the industry would also buy it. Because of all the attention Dad received, it made seeing the entire show impossible for the rest of us. So, off we would go on our own to visit booth after booth with little distractions.

I remember one ingredient supplier featuring flavored creamed cheeses. My contact with this company was Ken. Ken argued that flavored cream cheese would sell well, and would be a great way to use surplus cream. I liked the product but said I needed to find Scottie to get a good marketing perspective. So, off I went looking for my cousin.  Soon I brought Scottie to Ken’s booth where, on Ruffles potato chips, Scottie sampled peach, strawberry and blueberry cream cheeses.

Scottie then asked Ken, “What do folks eat this with?”

Ken answered, “Most folks eat cream cheese on a bagel.”

Scottie replied before leaving the booth “Where we are from, most folks use bagels to chase rabbits!”

We never did make any flavored cream cheese.

Last week I promised a bit more on healthy weight loss.  What can I offer that you haven’t already heard?  After all, the bookstores are crammed with books that promise fast weight loss, permanent weight loss, a new you, etc.  The problem is this: everyone knows that the guaranteed formula for sure-fire weight loss is simple: eat less and exercise more!  Not much of a revelation, huh?  The problem is that the gap between what we know and what we do is huge.  We make resolutions every year to re-build our lifestyles from the ground up, to the gym every day, quit eating junk foods, cut 1,000 calories from out diets, etc.  America’s booksellers help us out with New Year-New You promotions every January, and the parking lot of every gym is crowded as new “fitness converts” circle the parking lot looking for the best spot (!).  Of course, by the beginning of February, the health club parking lots are empty again, and the New Year-New You weight loss promotions at your local bookstore have been replaced by Valentines Day chocolate-lovers displays! 

What happened between January 1 and February 1?  Everyday life just got in the way.  If we think about it at all, it tends to be with a great deal of guilt….not a helpful a approach. Let’s throw the guilt out the window and start over. Let’s start by building a sustainable plan that we can live with for the rest of our lives, not just till we reach some elusive goal.  Let’s acknowledge that it’s hard to introduce fundamental changes in our lifestyle, and instead make small changes in our diet and physical activity patterns that we’re sure can be permanent changes. Finally, let’s set realistic goals. Its fine to want to lose a large amount of weight, but most people set unrealistic goals.  Did you know that most of the health benefits of weight loss come with the first several pounds that are lost, and that just a 5-10% weight loss (that’s 7½  to 15 pounds for a 150 pound person) produces huge improvements in your health risk profile?  So…let’s readjust our expectations, modify our goals, and not be quite so hard on ourselves.

Next week: how to implement a small changes program

Hello. My name is Eddie Allen and I am the Plant Manager at the Mayfield Ice Cream operation in beautiful Homewood (Birmingham), Alabama. I have been in the dairy business for ten years or so and have been making ice cream for more than six.

Did you know one of the ways that Scottie Mayfield describes quality? Simply having consistent products day in and day out. Here in Birmingham we want to make sure that the Mayfield Ice Cream we produce tastes EXACTLY the same as the ice cream we make at our plant in Athens, Tennessee. If we have folks visiting our lovely state; the beaches down south; our areas of great history around Montgomery; the "Center" of attraction in Birmingham; or Rocket City in Huntsville; who have grown up in East Tennessee on Mayfield we want them to feel at home when they taste our Ice Creamier products.

We have gone to extremes to insure that our facilities, equipment and most importantly, our Team of folks that make our products are prepared to accomplish this task. Over the next few weeks Scott Watson, my brother and fellow Plant Manager in Athens, will try to show you our operations and how we go about making the best dairy products around.

Thanks.

EA

The 4^th of July is a special day to many people.  It is certainly special to my family.  In 1973, my wife and I and another couple started a 4^th of July party.  It is a time when families get together, friends visit and we celebrate the freedoms we enjoy.  We normally have 125 to 200 people participating; however, this year was a little slow.  I think we had about 130, but it was hard to tell because we had a severe thunderstorm at dinner time.  Obviously, this party has become a tradition for us.

We cook a hog, a big pot of beans, boil peanuts, and serve coleslaw and sliced tomatoes.  Many of the folks who join us will bring hors d'oeuvres and desserts.  We have a variety of beverages.  One favorite is Mayfield Lemonade.  We play volleyball, pitch horseshoes and have an egg toss.

Volleyball used to be very competitive.  Each member of the winning team gets a “Hog Cooking” T-shirt.  However, most of the participants now are our children and their friends.  I still participate, but I am a setter - not a spiker.

The horseshoe match is hit or miss, depending on who attends.  But, the winning team gets a T-shirt also.  This year we had no horseshoe takers.

The grand finale of competition is the egg toss. Two-person teams toss a raw egg back and forth, increasing the distance between them until only one couple has an unbroken egg.  This competition creates some great photo opportunities.  Unfortunately, the thunderstorm eliminated the egg toss.

The last few years my son, Charles, has put together a fireworks display that is great.  By the time darkness was available for the show, the thunderstorm had passed.  He tapes fuses together so he can light the display one time and it runs for about 10 minutes.

We actually dressed the hogs ourselves during the first few years of this party, with the help of some friends.  Now, we are able to get a whole hog from Ed’s Meats in Cleveland, TN, which makes it much easier.

When we started this tradition, my friend and I would stay up most of the night cooking the hog.  After 5 or 6 versions of cookers, some homemade and now professionally made, we are able to enjoy a good night’s sleep while cooking.  We usually have some ribs early in the day for lunch and then the shoulders, hams and tenderloin for dinner.

The thunderstorm came in the middle of the volleyball tournament, which delayed serving the food.  Everyone ran into the garage and the house to seek cover.  We played volleyball in the rain until the lightning/thunder got too close; then it was time to eat.

We have many visitors from out of town and some of them enjoyed the 4^th of July parade in Sweetwater.  Most folks leave after dinner for the Athens Regional Park to watch the fireworks display there.  It is so nice to hear of all the celebrations that take place on the 4^th.  I am glad so many people realize how lucky we are to enjoy the freedoms we have.

I hope everyone out there had a great 4^th of July.

I cannot close without mentioning the election of our ice cream flavors.  As you may know, we (Mayfield) introduced four (4) new flavors this spring and will keep them in the line until next spring.  We are presently holding an election to see which flavor becomes a permanent flavor. 

You can vote on-line at www.mayfieldvote.com or by calling

1-866-789-VOTE.  The new flavors are Peanut Butter Cookie Dough, Triple Brownie, Extreme Moose Tracks and Blueberry Cream Pie.  You may find it interesting to know that our polling experts say that Blueberry is leading by a narrow margin over Extreme Moose Tracks. 

Thanks again for blogging on the Mayfield blog - www.thedairyblog.com.

Scottie Mayfield