N.S. cheese company now selling bottled milk

A Nova Scotia cheese farmer is now selling non-homogenized milk in an old fashioned container.

Two years after getting a permit to sell fresh milk, Port Williams's Fox Hill Cheese House is selling bottled milk.

Co-owner Janita Rand said many of her customers have been asking for bottles for more than a year.

"There's an older generation that remembers the glass bottles when they were younger. There's Europeans and an ethnic population that are aware of this in their own country and it's not available here in Atlantic Canada so it's really exciting for them," said Rand.

"Then there's a new generation, the younger generation that wants environmentally-friendly packaging and a less processed milk as well."

Getting the milk from the cows into the bottles and the chilled milk onto the shelves has been a major undertaking. Fox Hill has invested in a new bottling line and a new walk-in fridge, with the production facility housed in a new building.

"It's awesome. It's so exciting," said Rand. "It's actually a project that's been over two years in the being so it's a big day for us."

Consumers seemed to welcome the bottled milk as well.

"I thought it was fabulous. It tastes like milk should taste, fresh, just like really good milk," said Susan Tripp, shopping at the Halifax Seaport Market on Friday.

Rand said selling milk in bottles is only one selling point.

"It's 100 per cent Canadian. It's 100 per cent Nova Scotian. It's 100 per cent Port Williams. We can say it's 100 per cent Church Street so it's a real local product. I think people want that," said Rand.

That's exactly what shopper James McMillin liked about the product.

"Most of my food I buy it at the market, and I like it because I can talk to the people who have raised it, grown it or butchered it," said McMillin. "And I know exactly where it's come from, so you've got a better idea of the quality control of the product so I'm very excited about this."

"I think it's a neat idea. It's recyclable. Well, that really tasted good. I don't really drink milk very much but this takes me back many, many years. Might convert me back into a milk drinker," said Harvey Silverstein.

Fox Hill is planning one bottling run a week, but if the demand is there they'll ramp it up to twice a week.