Dutch dairy family meets Alberta culture

In just seven years, Bles-Wold Dairy has built an impressive farming operation, and a successful yogurt business. Both are built on nutrition.

After 20 years in the dairy industry in The Netherlands, Tinie Eilers and her husband Hennie Bos were looking for a new challenge. They found it in Alberta.

The couple moved to Alberta in 1994, choosing the Lacombe area for its high-quality soils, easy transportation links and relative proximity to the mountains. Compared to Holland, says Eilers, Lacombe seemed like virgin territory.

“Holland is a country of 16 million people that could fit between Calgary and Edmonton,” she says. “There’s not much room for farmers to grow, and we saw Alberta as a place of opportunity.”

Cow comfort, nutrition are priorities

In the fall of 1994, Eilers and Bos bought and consolidated three area dairy herds. They named the operation Bles-Wold, creating the name from the names of their respective hometowns in Holland.

Since then, the herd has grown from 60 to 120 to over 200 milking cows, almost all black-and-white Holsteins. Bos and his crew milk the cows three times a day.

Cows are fed a mixed ration of alfalfa hay, silage, rolled barley and corn – most of it grown on the farm’s 450 acres. This menu has been specifically chosen to provide optimum nutrition for the cows, since healthier cows naturally produce more milk.

“We focus on cow comfort and cow health in our operation,” says Bos. “We are trying to provide a good environment for the animals as well as the workers.”

Hobby becomes business

By 1996, the Bles-Wold Dairy operation was running like clockwork. But their daughter, then age 13 and diabetic, was homesick for Holland. Apart from missing the country itself, she longed for the type of yogurt her uncle made back home: mild enough to taste good but still keep her diabetes in check.

With her brother’s recipe in hand (and yogurt culture imported from Denmark) Eilers headed to the kitchen. Starting with small batches for her family, she was soon making yogurt constantly for friends and others, and decided to go into business. In 1997, the yogurt operation moved from the kitchen to an old barn. Today, Eilers supplies 65 stores in Alberta, mainly between Calgary and St. Albert, and is preparing to sell product online through the Bles-Wold Dairy Web site.

ABCs of yogurt and health

Practically everyone’s tried it, of course, but the question is worth asking: what exactly is yogurt? And why is it good for you?

Yogurt is a semi-solid dairy product created by the fermentation that results when natural bacteria, known as yogurt culture, is added to milk. The bacteria curdles the protein in yogurt and acts as a preservative. According to the Alberta Milk Producers, yogurt is an excellent source of calcium and, like milk, is packed with bone building nutrients (with the exception of Vitamin D). The lactic acid cultures in yogurt can also protect against some digestive problems.

Three days from cow to consumer

In the Bles-Wold yogurt operation, timing is everything.

“We have a slow incubation time that gives the yogurt a taste that’s different than people are used to,” Eilers says.

While many commercial yogurts are made in eight hours, Eilers swears by a 16- or 17-hour process. She believes that makes the yogurt milder in taste.

Needless to say, all the milk for Bles-Wold’s yogurt comes from the family’s dairy herd. From there, it’s a relatively simple process.

1. Pasteurize the milk
2. Let it cool
3. Add the bacterial culture
4. Let it sit for 16 to 17 hours
5. Add any fruit the recipe calls for (Bles-Wold has eight flavours as well as plain)

“We make about 2,000 litres of yogurt weekly and ship it to our customers right away,” says Eilers. “We can move the product from the cows to the customers in just a few days.”

For now, Bles-Wold Dairy is right where it wants to be. The cows are happy and productive. The yogurt business is growing. And the move from The Netherlands to Lacombe has paid off in spades. So what’s next?

Says Eilers: “I see expanding but we don’t want to grow too fast. We like it to be good fun as well as a good business.”