Last week, we had our 115th Annual Meeting here at Ellsworth. I’m not exactly sure what most companies’ annual meetings look like… but I have a hard time believing they look like this; A event space filled with 180 farmers, some with their spouses, some with their kids. All sitting together, paying close attention to the performance of a company they don’t just work with and ship their milk to, but have ownership in.
As someone who didn’t grow up on a farm, lives in the city and does most of his work from a computer, I walked into that room not fully knowing what to expect. But sitting there, looking around, I had a few thoughts; This company I have the pleasure of working with is incredibly special. And this level of connection and intention is just not normal for most companies.
There was a meaningful sort of weight to the thought. I could feel that this wasn’t just numbers on a screen or a recap of the year. This was people paying attention to something that directly impacts their lives, their families, their future. These are the men and women that run and are the building blocks of this company. Not three or four executives. Not a group of outside investors. One hundred and eighty owners, operating at a pretty impressive scale, all while remaining private.
They don’t just supply milk to Ellsworth, they are Ellsworth. They grow the cattle and provide the milk that make our product. They play a part in making the decisions. And whether they realize it or not, they carry the responsibility of something that has lasted 115 years, and I think that’s the part that’s easy to forget. Because the majority of their life revolves around early mornings, long days, the constant demands of the farm, family, bills – it’s not always easy to step back and see how special what they’re building really is.
So…What is a cooperative?
If you Google what a cooperative is, you’ll get something like this: a member-owned business that is operated for the benefit of those members, rather than outside investors. Simple enough. But sitting in that room last week, I realized it’s more than a business structure or definition. This structure fosters a completely different way of operating.
Most companies exist to serve the bottom line of a small group of investors. A cooperative exists to serve the people who are directly connected to it. At Ellsworth, that means when the company does well, it doesn’t just show up in a report – it shows up in real lives, on real farms, around real dinner tables. And it only works if everyone shows up. There’s no missing piece, no anonymous layer, no disconnect. And if you know anything about farmers in the Midwest, they take a lot of pride in the work they do, which means they take a lot of pride in the product their work creates. That’s why it’s not a surprise that Ellsworth Curds are the number one selling cheese curd in the country!
A few days after the annual meeting, I spent some time on one of our patron farms. A chance to take a closer look at one of the family farms that own and provide our creamery with milk.
Josh and his wife Cassie, Josh’s dad Rich, and their two boys, Levi and Everett.
Levi is 10, Everett is 6.
Levi was out driving a tractor, mixing feed for the cows like it was just another normal day. Everett was flying around the farm in a side-by-side, being chased endlessly by the family dog, completely in his element. What a legacy! Levi and Everett are the 7th generation of their family that will take over that farm one day. They’ll care for the land, the animals, and ship milk to Ellsworth. And eventually, their kids will likely do the same. Suddenly, things like “quality” and “standards” take on a completely different meaning. Because when your name is tied to something for generations, you care differently. You show up differently, and that farm full of love and legacy and pride is the ground zero that sets the tone and intentionality for everything Ellsworth does.
Why the cooperative model matters.
What makes the cooperative model so unique is that there aren’t outside investors calling the shots. The people who own Ellsworth are the same people who provide the milk. There’s no separation. So when you buy a bag of Ellsworth Cheese Curds, you’re not just buying a product, you’re supporting families like Josh and Cassie’s. You’re supporting farms that have existed for generations and are being built to last for generations more. You’re supporting people who have spent their lives perfecting their craft.
And I think that connection shows up. In the quality, in the care, in the pride behind what we make.
Cooperatives aren’t the norm. In fact, they’re becoming more rare. And yet, they tend to last. (115 years would suggest that.) There’s something powerful about a model that prioritizes people over short-term profit, that values stewardship over speed, that builds something meant to be handed down.
Final Thought
I walked into that annual meeting as someone who works with Ellsworth. I walked out feeling more connected to the people who make Ellsworth what it is. And that’s something special. Something worth protecting. And something more people should know about. As someone who didn’t grow up in this world, I can say this: being around it has changed the way I see the business at Ellsworth. It’s made it more human, more intentional, more meaningful and I feel honored to get a small peek behind the curtain.
Written by Steve Weigel – Brand Consultant from The Brand Club
