Our Story: From Pasture to Plate
Minerva Dairy is America’s oldest family-owned creamery, crafting rich and creamy butter and cheese products. It all started with our founder, Max Radloff, in 1894. At the age of 21, Max founded and opened Hustiford Creamery in Wisconsin. During the early 1900s, Max continued to expand his business, opening and running 26 dairy facilities before consolidating the company to its present location in Minerva, Ohio. In 1912, Max’s son Roland took over the company, but he struggled to sustain it after the sudden passing of his wife. Max, however, was more than ready to step back into the family business. From day one, Max Radloff aimed to make the best butter around and made it his life mission to perfect our family’s recipe. What Max created was a small-batch, slow-churned butter that is 85% butterfat. If you’ve ever wondered why our butter is creamier, richer, and more flavorful than other brands, it’s all thanks to that high butterfat content.
We continue to package our butter, which contains 85% butterfat, in 2-pound rolls and 8-ounce cartons with two 4oz quarter sticks. Just like generations before us, our butter is still made in small, slow-churn batches using milk from local pasture-raised cows. We pasteurize between 450,000 and 600,000 pounds of milk daily, six or seven days a week—amounting to between 52,000 and 70,000 gallons each day! Today, the fifth-generation siblings Adam Mueller and Venae Watts run the show, having worked at the creamery since they were 12. After 130 years of making butter, we’re confident that we create better butter simply because we’re better at making butter. We’ve stuck to what we know best, still producing the same butter that launched our family business! The addition of 12,000 cows from local family farms ensures we have enough milk to make both cheese and butter for you to enjoy.
7 Generations of Butter Makers
At Minerva Dairy, we’ve been eating, sleeping, and dreaming of butter for over 130 years. Since we’ve been in the dairy industry for so long (you could call us pros), it might feel like everything there is to know about us is already known. However, we feel like our history is so rich with exciting facts that might surprise you!
Year
1894
1st Generation
Our company was founded in 1894 when Max P. Radloff established Radloff Cheese in Hustisford, Wisconsin. During his life and work for Minerva, Max Radloff built 26 locations producing cheese and butter. More importantly, Max was a great father to 7 kids.
1912
2nd Generation: Roland Radloff
Max’s son Roland inherited the thriving business in 1912 but was unable to maintain it when his wife died suddenly. Max was ready and waiting to jump back into the butter…or business, rather.
1934
3rd Generation: Lorraine Mueller
Max’s granddaughter, Lorraine, inherited the shares of the business, establishing Minerva Dairy as a “women-owned” company, which it still is today! Lorraine married Delbert Mueller in 1934. The Minerva Dairy was a wedding gift along with a model-T car to move from Wisconsin to Minerva, Ohio, and operate and live in the Creamery. The Muellers took their offer and started making ice cream along with cheese and butter! They raised the 4th generation of butter lovers, Phil and Karen. During this time, we were also bottling milk. You could call us a jack of all trades!
1976
4th Generation: Phil Mueller
In 1976, Lorraine and Delbert Mueller’s son, Phil, took over the business. With 26 years of butter experience, Phil’s passion for the business was ready. With the sudden passing of Delbert in 1976, the company continued to thrive with the matriarch Lorraine, her son Phil, and his newlywed wife, Polly. They navigated the dairy industry through the dark ages (when people were brainwashed into believing margarine was good for you), in addition to raising the 5th generation of butter-makers, Venae and Adam.
2000
5th Generation: Venae Watts (née Mueller) & Adam Mueller
Venae and Adam, the current owners of Minerva Dairy, are deeply rooted in the family business. Like the generations before them, they have cultivated a true passion for butter and cheese. Today, they lead a team of around 75 dedicated members, striving for success every day. Venae oversees the corporate office with a sharp focus on marketing and sales, while Adam manages all aspects of production. Together, they blend their expertise and vision to honor their family’s legacy while driving the business forward.
2020
6th Generation
The 6th generation of Minerva Dairy, made up of 13 family members, keeps the tradition alive by letting each person find their own role based on what they love and do best. With a focus on collaboration and growth, everyone contributes to the company’s legacy of quality, ensuring both personal fulfillment and the business’s continued success.
2024
7th Generation
The 7th generation of Minerva Dairy is already crawling toward the butter, tiny hands reaching for the creamy goodness that’s been part of the family legacy for generations.
Our Products - A Spread of Pure Delight
Our family, including our beloved Nana Lorraine, who famously told us that “there’s not much in life that can’t be made better with butter,” has made developing the perfect batch of butter our family legacy. The end result is a line of 85% butterfat butter in multiple dreamy flavors, from sea salt to garlic herb butter. Using our store locator tool or by shopping online, you can grab the rolled version of our butter—or the classic sticks you’ll often find on store shelves—from your local market or specialty store.
Sea Salt Butter
If you believe that salt improves everything, you will love our sea salt butter, one of our favorite butter flavors. Our sea salt butter can be used for almost anything! You can spread it on bread, use it for veggies and pasta, or include it in recipes where you don’t need to control the salt.
Unsalted Butter
If you want to control the flavor of your recipe, use our unsalted butter! It helps the natural flavors of your food stand out. Without added salt, you can enjoy the sweet cream taste of the butter in baked goods or home-cooked meals.
Garlic & Herb Butter
Garlic lovers, rejoice! Our garlic herb butter is one of our best-selling flavors. It adds a fresh taste to your favorite savory foods. This butter, infused with garlic and parsley, is perfect for baked potatoes, vegetables, seafood, and meats.
Find Us in Stores Near You
Do you know we make cheese?
At Minerva, you likely know us for our well-known butter products that are distributed nationwide. However, what you may not realize is that we also have a substantial cheese processing business that produces cheese for food service and as an ingredient for other manufacturers. In our cooler room, we store not only all of our retail butter products but also our large 40-pound blocks of cheese. We specialize in making hard Italian cheeses like Romano and Asiago. These cheeses require an aging process of 8 to 10 months, which is handled by our B2B customers. Once aged, our customers can shred, dice, and grate the cheese. Finally, this delicious cheese finds its way to retail stores, where it can be used as an ingredient or packaged as grated parmesan.
Recipes Made with Tradition
In a family of six generations of butter lovers, it’s safe to say there was a lot of cooking… and a lot of butter. We encourage you to get in the kitchen and cook with and for your loved ones. There’s something truly special about preparing meals together, especially when butter is involved. For some delicious recipes featuring Minerva Dairy’s pasture-raised butter, check out the collection we’ve created over the years with our family. The recipes have been approved by our family chef, Joe Watts, who is married to Venae and also works in the family business. These recipes not only celebrate our passion for butter but also highlight the joy of sharing meals together. Whether you’re an experienced chef or a beginner, remember that if all else fails, just add butter!
