Springfield Creamery- Celebrating 50 years of a Cultured History

The building was humble and the family was young, armed with big ambition, but little experience, Chuck and Sue Kesey opened the doors in 1960 to Springfield Creamery in Springfield, Oregon. The small family operation began by bottling and delivering milk in glass jugs, but it soon became clear that a niche product was needed to ensure that the Creamery would survive. At this time Nancy Hamren came to work for the creamery with yogurt making experience from her grandmother. Her experience, paired with Chuck Kesey’s (brother of author, Ken Kesey) expertise with cultures and probiotics, was the perfect match, and in 1970 Nancy’s Yogurt was born, becoming the first fully-cultured probiotic yogurt in the US. That first Nancy’s Yogurt, with the probiotic acidophilus culture, came to customers in the early 1970s in glass canning jars.

Grateful for a Grateful Dead Solution
The Yogurt making times of the 1970’s remained challenging for Springfield Creamery and the Kesey family, to the extent that the Grateful Dead was called upon in 1972 to perform a benefit concert for the Creamery. It was an epic and historical event. More than 20,000 people attended, entering the outdoor summer event in Veneta, Oregon using their tickets, which were printed on Nancy's Yogurt labels. A movie was made of the concert entitled 'Sunshine Daydream’ and the creamery was kept afloat, thanks to the help of the Grateful Dead and 20,000 of their friends on that hot summer day.

Shipping Yogurt on a Song
Nancy's Yogurt expanded to new areas in the 1970’s thanks to two young entrepreneurs -- University of Oregon graduate, Gilbert Rosborne and his partner, music legend Huey Lewis. With an established underground comic book route to natural food stores in San Francisco, the pair soon added Nancy’s to their inventory. With a rented a U-haul truck, packed it with Nancy’s Yogurt and bags of ice they introduced Nancy’s Yogurt to the Bay Area. One has to wonder if Huey Lewis’ hit song, Working’ for a Living' was written while driving a U-Haul filled with Nancy’s!

Out of the Ruins

The next two decades, the 1980’s and 1990’s were thriving times for Springfield Creamery. The Nancy’s brand had found a dedicated following, the Creamery expanded to a larger and more automated plant and distribution area of Nancy’s continued to grow throughout the country. So when an electrical fire in 1994 destroyed much of the Creamery, it came as a blow. Not only did the Kesey’s lose their newly remodeled building, but also with production halted and their hard earned shelf space was at risk. With the help of family, friends, employees and the community, the Creamery was back in partial production in just four three weeks. In the end, what emerged from the ruins of the fire was recognition of the sincere loyalty of the Creamery’s dedicated customers throughout the country.

A Sustainable Future

And as the years have passed the story has now evolved over half a century. Woven into those years there are the tales that include the highs of a beautiful building expansion and the lows of a devastating plant fire, all while making the most healthy food possible along side family and friends. Today, Springfield Creamery offers more than 85 Nancy’s Cultured Natural and Organic Dairy and Soy Products, using local rBGH-free milk, real fruits, no cane sugars and of course, live, beneficial probiotics in each and every Nancy’s product. The Kesey family, now joined by the second generation, still owns and operates Springfield Creamery today, just as they have for 50 years. The journey has been rich and cultured (or was that the yogurt?) … and we thank you!