Kuehnert Milk House

What Kuehnert Milk House does

Kuehnert Milk House is the on-farm retail and direct-to-consumer bottling arm of Kuehnert Dairy Farm, a fifth-generation family-owned dairy operation established in 1897 on 1,200 acres near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The core dairy farm milks 300 registered Holstein cows daily and bottles milk on-site, employing Lely A4 robotic milking machines, Lely Juno feed pushers, AI24 cow monitoring systems, and Lely robotic calf feeders to automate production. The 2024 launch of Kuehnert Milk House marked a transition from supplying other bottlers to selling the farm's milk directly to consumers through an on-site farm store, complemented by the Udder Upp Café dairy menu and The Homestead, a historic 125-year-old barn venue available for event rentals.

The business operates a hybrid revenue model spanning direct-to-consumer dairy retail, an agritourism division (annual Fall Festival since 2013 with corn maze, pumpkins, ice cream, and calf viewing priced at $15 single admission / $30 season pass), guided educational farm tours, event venue rentals accommodating up to 150 guests, and seedstock sales from the pedigreed Holstein herd. Distribution is primarily local: the on-farm store (opened 2024), with nascent expansion into local retail outlets and potential future home delivery. Customer segments are concentrated around Fort Wayne-area families, school groups, and local consumers seeking farm-to-table transparency and agritourism experiences. The farm has 1–10 listed employees and is privately held with no disclosed institutional investors aside from a $0 (non-dilutive / grant-style) engagement with the Center for Dairy Research in December 2023.

Name

Kuehnert Milk House

Legal name

Kuehnert Dairy

Website

https://kuehnertdairy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1897

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Kuehnert Milk House is the on-farm retail and bottling arm of a fifth-generation family dairy farm in Fort Wayne, Indiana, milking 300 Holsteins and selling farm-fresh milk, café fare, agritourism, and event-venue experiences to local consumers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Dairy Products

NAICS

Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (11212), Fluid Milk Manufacturing (311511)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Milk Production (Raw Milk) (AFAEACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Fluid Milk & Cream Processing (AFAKAKAA), Dairy Housing, Milking Systems & On-Farm Infrastructure Operations (AFAEACAG), Dairy Farm Direct-to-Consumer Raw Milk Sales (where legal) (AFAEACAN)

Keywords

• Farm fresh dairy
• On-farm bottling
• Agritourism events
• Holstein cattle breeding
• Dairy retail store

Headquarters

HQ city

Fort Wayne

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels2 records

Core offering

Kuehnert Milk House is an on-farm bottling and retail store opened in 2024 where the farm sells its own farm-fresh bottled milk and dairy products directly to consumers. The operation is part of a fifth-generation family dairy that milks 300 registered Holstein cows daily, bottles milk on-site, and complements retail with an on-site café (Udder Upp), the annual Fall Festival, educational farm tours, and a historic barn event venue (The Homestead).

Product overview

Kuehnert Milk House is a family-owned dairy farm business operating since 1897 near Fort Wayne, Indiana. The company offers a portfolio of products and experiences centered around dairy farming: the core Kuehnert Dairy Farm operation milks 300 registered Holstein cows and bottles milk on-site, sold through the Kuehnert Milk House retail location (launched 2024) which includes the Udder Upp Café for dining. The company also operates an agritourism division offering the annual Kuehnert Fall Festival (since 2013), educational Farm Tours, and The Homestead event venue. The product ecosystem progresses from primary dairy production through direct-to-consumer retail and dining, complemented by visitor experiences and event hosting.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Udder Upp Café: A café located within Kuehnert Milk House offering a curated dairy menu.
• The Homestead
• Kuehnert Fall Festival

Products and services

• Kuehnert Milk House (On-Farm Bottled Milk and Dairy Retail) On-farm retail store and bottling location where the farm sells its own farm-fresh bottled milk and dairy products directly to consumers, opened in 2024.
• Udder Upp Café On-site café located inside Kuehnert Milk House serving a curated dairy menu to farm visitors.
• Kuehnert Fall Festival Annual agritourism festival featuring a corn maze, pumpkins, baby calves, and ice cream, with paid admission and seasonal passes.
• Farm Tours Guided one-hour educational tours of the dairy farm, available by appointment or on the first Saturday of each month, showing how cows are milked and how milk reaches the table.
• The Homestead Event Venue Rental Historic 125+ year-old barn venue on the farm available for rental for parties, showers, reunions, corporate events, and farm weddings, hosting up to 150 guests.
• Registered Holstein Seedstock Sales Sale of registered Holstein cattle from the Kuehnert pedigreed herd to other dairy farmers building or improving their herds, leveraging generations of breeding including All-Americans and State Fair winners.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Hawthorne Valley Farm: Diversified farmstead operation in Ghent, New York producing dairy and value-added products with an on-farm store, café, and educational programs — closely mirroring Kuehnert's farm-to-bottle-plus-agritourism model.
• Trickling Springs Creamery: Pennsylvania-based farmstead creamery bottling premium fluid milk from partner farms with a farm-store and retail footprint — comparable in its glass-bottle, local-heritage positioning and small-batch processing approach.
• Maple Hill Creamery: New York-based 100% grass-fed organic dairy brand sourcing from a network of small family farms and selling shelf-stable fluid milk at premium retail — directly comparable in farm-family-rooted, premium-positioned dairy branding.

Broad incumbents

• Organic Valley: Large farmer-owned organic dairy cooperative sourcing from hundreds of small family farms — overlaps with Kuehnert's family-farm and pasture-based positioning but at vastly greater scale and broader distribution.
• Stonyfield Farm: Organic dairy brand (yogurt, fluid milk, cream) sold nationally through retail — competes with Kuehnert in the premium, farm-traceable dairy category but with national distribution and brand recognition Kuehnert lacks.
• Cabot Creamery: Vermont dairy cooperative with deep multi-generational family-farmer heritage selling branded dairy products nationally — overlaps with Kuehnert on family-farm provenance but with cooperative-scale processing and broad retail presence.
• Hiland Dairy: Regional fluid milk processor serving the Midwest including Indiana — competes with Kuehnert in fluid milk distribution to local retailers and represents the industrial-scale benchmark Kuehnert's DTC model must beat on differentiation.

Emerging players

• Shamba Creamery: Small on-farm dairy bottling pastured cow milk with a farm-store model in the Midwest — comparable emerging farmstead bottler pursuing direct retail channels and local store distribution similar to Kuehnert's 2024 Milk House launch.

Regional players

• Hilker Dairy / Local Midwest Farmstead Dairies: Multi-generational family dairy operation with on-farm bottling and farm-tour agritourism in the upper Midwest — directly comparable Midwest farmstead model combining Holstein herd, bottling, and visitor experiences.

Others

• Center for Dairy Research (CDR): Dairy industry research and technical assistance center at UW-Madison supporting dairy processors — relevant as Kuehnert's listed funder/partner and a key enabler for small dairy bottling operations seeking processing expertise and product development.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/kuehnert-dariy-farm

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Kuehnert Milk House