The Dairy Blog

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.