Duchess Dairy Products will invest $895,000 to expand its dairy processing operations in Wythe County, with plans to add a production line of churned butter, in addition to its current line of premium bottled milk.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin approved a $25,000 Facility Grant from the Governor’s Agriculture and Forestry Industries Development Fund, which Wythe County will match with local funds.
“Growing small businesses in our rural communities is vital to the continued growth of the Commonwealth’s largest private industry, agriculture. Congratulations to Duchess Dairy on this expansion and for investing in Southwest Virginia,” Youngkin said in a statement.
Duchess Dairy Products was founded in 2010, as a partnership between the Huffard family and Joe Blankenship to process and bottle milk from their herds.
The company now produces 7,000 gallons of traditional and flavored milk per week.
The company’s products can be purchased by consumers in a variety of retail stores across Southern Virginia and Southwest Virginia, to include large-chain grocers like Food City, Food Lion, independent grocery retailers, and specialty stores.
“We would like to thank Gov. Youngkin, the State of Virginia, Wythe County, and the town of Rural Retreat for their assistance with this project, as well as our many loyal customers for the purchase of our products,” said James Huffard III, the president of Duchess Dairy Products. “We take great pride in sourcing only fresh, high-quality milk from our dairy cattle to produce bottled milk and other dairy products. This expansion project will help us meet growing consumer demand by increasing operational efficiencies, increasing production capacity, and adding a production line of fresh churned butter.”
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Chris Graham
