Blackwell Dairy hopes to start production again before Christmas

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The length of time the plant has been shut down will have a big impact on the business, Blackwell says, but he knows he can count on his loyal customers to help pick sales back up.

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“It’s almost like starting all over again, I mean the only thing different is, is that people realize the products we put out before and are behind everything. We get steady, steady interest from all of our customers on a regular basis (who) want our products back and can’t wait,” Blackwell says. “They’re true blue. They’ve just been wonderful. They have been supportive in the past of all the times we produced out of our other plant for 35 years and they got to know our products and love our products. They’ve stood behind us.”

Another issue Blackwell Dairy will face when it’s time to produce again is that the stores where their product is supplied have gotten used to having other dairy supply on its shelf. Blackwell says it’s important for the plant to set a date for stores so they can make space on their shelves.

Blackwell says the plant won’t be producing at 100 per cent when production begins again, but he expects to be close to 100 per cent within six months. His plan is to push for all of the local deliveries at the start, and then gradually move to the outskirts of the city, along with other cities across the region.

Certain products like the locally-famous Blackwell egg nog and chocolate milk have customers anxious for the return of products to shelves, and Blackwell reiterates his thankfulness for customers.

“The tremendous local customer support is undaunting. If it goes by them — we’ll be lucky if we aren’t producing 150 per cent within the first two months, but I’m not planning on doing that,” Blackwell says, adding they’ll be prepared if numbers do soar to those heights. “I thank everyone for their patience because this has been a very, very big task but what we’ve built is state of the art, and it’s going to be a highly efficient plant and the very best products will be coming out of it, so we look forward to it.”