Whatever happened to the iconic milkman? A few of our readers may have memories of such a character, but for most of us it's hard to imagine that, once upon a time, there was a job specifically dedicated to someone delivering milk to homes. Home milk delivery was the norm in the 1940s, 50s and 60s, but as personal automobiles became more commonplace and new processes such as pasteurization and plastic containers were developed, the demand for a milkman became less needed and eventually faded out almost entirely in the 1970s.
However, like many things that go out of style, such as fashion and hairstyles, they often resurface later and gain popularity once again. Home dairy (and grocery) delivery is an excellent example of that. Riley Steiner, owner of The Modern Milkman, says, "The time was right. We have a family farm and we were thinking about a home delivery service in the fall of 2019, but when COVID-19 hit, we said 'we should do something about this' and that's when things really started coming together for us."
Over the past 14 months, Riley has seen his company and service grow quite rapidly. "We've definitely grown a lot since we started last August," he adds. Because of the pandemic, people have been looking at all kinds of new home delivery services. In fact, people are using delivery services for their grocery shopping 45% more now than before 2020. Riley says, "We knew we couldn't just deliver milk alone so we partnered up with other local farmers to support them and carry their products as well."
So with that, The Modern Milkman was born and, in doing so, they have made it very easy and affordable to have fresh, quality dairy (and non-dairy) products delivered right to your front door. The Modern Milkman offers three different sized weekly plans that allow you to choose from dozens of items that best suit your family's food needs for the week. Riley explains, "Our main focus is to support local families and businesses and to make everyday life a little easier for our customers. We want to save them the runaround of having to go to multiple stores to support local and to get the things they need." With drivers making deliveries everyday all around the area, you can be assured that The Modern Milkman can have the best local groceries delivered right to your front door with no problem at all. They deliver everywhere from Wooster to Parma and, of course, all over Medina County.
As their menu continues to grow each month, The Modern Milkman is constantly updating the options on their website and they are excited to now offer five new flavors of single-serve milk for their customers. You can now choose from Chocolate, Black Raspberry, Orange Cream, Strawberry and Vanilla milk in 12-ounce glass jars that were added just last month. They will also be offering the very popular Hartzler Dairy Egg Nog during this holiday season.
And speaking of the holidays, it's important to know that if you will be out of town for the week or you are fully stocked in your fridge and pantry, you always have the option to donate your order to a local family in need through their Food Partnership Program.
To learn more about the specific plans and items that The Modern Milkman carries, you can visit and sign up for membership on their website at OH.ModernMilkman.com.