Frequently Asked Questions

• We have ridiculously high standards. We don’t skimp when it comes to ingredients. Only the best will do.
• And, we are very picky about the methods we use to make our cottage cheese, milks, juices, yogurts and more.
• We are a family owned dairy (one of the few left in the U.S.).
• Second and third generation Erickson family members manage the day-to-day operations of the dairy plant.
• Our size (we’re considered small compared to the large cooperatives) allows us to respond more quickly to customer requests and trends.
• Like our founders in 1930, we are ridiculously passionate about our commitment to provide you and your family with the best in dairy products.
• We have ridiculously high standards. We know we already said that, but that’s just how high our standards are.

Before it can be accepted each load of raw milk must pass several tests from one of our trained technicians who tastes and smells the milk. If the milk passes these initial checks, it is sent to our on-site, state-of-the-art laboratory for additional analysis. But, we don’t stop here; because of our ridiculously high standards, we continue to test our products more than 25 times in all; even through the “sell by” date on the carton. All AE products need to meet our high standards for freshness and taste, and more importantly, we want our customers to be satisfied.

In response to customer requests, all AE Milks come from cows not treated with r-bST*/r-BGH*.

*No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from r-bST/r-BGH treated and non-r-bST/r-BGH treated cows.

Ridiculously high standards also means being a little obsessive when it comes to quality. Iver Erickson once said, “There is no such thing as a perfect food.”, and we take this to heart. This means we are constantly checking the quality and consistency of the products we make at our weekly Taste Test. A team of people, including Erickson family members, management, production, and sales staff sample all AE products and judge the texture, taste, and aroma of each one. We also pay close attention to customer requests and the latest trends to come up with new creations.

Having ridiculous high standards means we are fanatics when it comes to freshness. So, it takes less than 24 hours for the raw milk to be changed into your favorite AE product and on the shelves of your neighborhood grocery store. This includes milk and cultured products such as cottage cheese, dips, sour cream, yogurt, and ice cream mix.

The date stamped on the carton is known as the “sell by” date which indicates how long the store has to sell the product.

If a product has been stored at 36 degrees or under, it should remain good for another 7 days after the “sell by” date stamped on the container.

The key is to keep your milk cold, and here are a few suggestions on how to do this.

• Refrigerate your milk as soon as possible after purchase. For every degree above 40 that milk is exposed (including your travel time from the grocery store to your home), it loses a day of freshness.
• As soon as you are finished serving or using the milk, return it to your refrigerator instead of leaving your milk on the breakfast or dinner table throughout the meal.
• Check that your refrigerator temperature is set between 34 and 36 degrees.
• Store your milk in the interior area of the refrigerator instead of in the door where the temperature fluctuates because of frequent opening.

We encourage our customers to let us know how we’re doing. You can send an email using our contact form, or call our customer care hot line at 515-265-2521 extension 2300.  If a product you purchased isn’t everything you hoped it would be, please contact us. We will arrange pick up of the item so that we can investigate it with the help of our lab, and we will replace the item.

It’s been a closely guarded, secret, family recipe for almost 50 years. Of course, what’s not a secret is our ridiculously high standards. We can tell you that we use more high quality ingredients like rich cream and real nutmeg, and we leave out the artificial rum flavoring. Our customers tell us it’s an important part of their holiday tradition.

We are taking steps to use the earth’s resources wisely, and some of the most noticeable include:

• fueling our fleet of 400 vehicles with a biodiesel blend,
• washing the fleet and our milk crates with recovered wash water,
• making new milk cases from reground plastic
• recycling plastic used in our gallon blow mold machine, and
• bundling cardboard packaging for recycling

Actually, our milk cases sometimes go missing when people borrow them, and they cost “moola” to replace. This expense affects the cost of milk. If you have “borrowed” an AE yellow milk case, or know of someone who has, we ask that you return it to AE or your local grocery store.

*No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from r-bST/r-BGH treated and non-r-bST/r-BGH treated cows.