The Rutter’s Dairy brand has always been dedicated to providing customers with top-quality products from local, family-owned farms. Now, Rutter’s is providing even more options with the introduction of organic milk to local shelves.

“We felt our customers were looking for a fresh, organic, local option,” Says Rick Miller, sales and marketing manager at Rutter’s. About 40 independent supermarkets and health food stores are stocking the line, which includes whole milk, two-percent, one-percent and fat-free varieties.

What makes all Rutter’s dairy products, including the new organic line, stand out is the pasteurization process, which heats the milk to a standard pasteurization temperature of no more than 165 degrees, a process that destroys bacteria without sacrificing flavor.

“In our opinion,” Miller says, “This process produces a more flavorful product than the ultra-high temperature (UHT) pasteurized products more common across the organic industry. What people don’t realize is that once they open a UHT product, it doesn’t last any longer than our milk, and it doesn’t have the same fresh, local flavor ours does.”

Rutter’s is a family-owned company, and the brand is devoted to supporting family operations throughout the region. Rutter’s premium dairy products are sourced from 28 family-owned, U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified farms. Milk is delivered to the Rutter’s processing plant daily; meaning the milk customers find on shelves may have been produced on a local farm just 24 hours earlier.

As a further commitment to the health of their customers and cows across the region, Rutter’s dairy products are produced by farmers that pledge not to use rBST, a synthetic hormone that increases milk production. Despite rBST being approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Rutter’s farmers are committed to producing milk from cows not treated with the hormone.

For the new organic line, Rutter’s works with six organic farms—four in South Central and eastern Pennsylvania and two in Northeastern Maryland —all of which are committed to sustainability and organic practices.

Miller says that Rutter’s believes happy cows produce better milk. The organic milk comes from cows that eat mostly pasture and cut grasses, and have year-round access to pastures.

“The farms are all certified organic by Pennsylvania Certified Organic, use no GMOs, synthetic or artificial growth hormones, antibiotics, synthetic pesticides or fertilizers,” Miller says. “We hold our famers to a high standard and we try to eliminate any risk of a less-than-perfect product.”

Rutter’s dairy products are bottled in York, PA, and produced here in the region. For more information, call 717-848-9827 or visit ruttersdairy.com.