Note: The Icon acquired a manuscript titled “A Brief History of Bluffton’s Industrial Developments.” This publication was prepared by the classes in Marketing and Small Business Administration from Bluffton College, under the director of Dr. Howard Raid. Publication date is May 1959. We’ve updated some current addresses so viewers may identify locations.

Page Dairy Co.
Started in Bluffton in 1922

The Page Dairy was located on Harmon Road near the former water plant. In 1957  a plant in Findlay here also. (In 2017 this is near Steinmetz Field.)

Bluffton’s plant is one of six. The other five are in Angola, Ind., Howe, Mich., Mansfield, Bellefontaine and Toledo (the home office).

Bluffton’s plant manager is Don Kagy, who has had this position for two years. He was with the company for eight years previously to being named manager.

Bluffton’s dairy receives approximately 38,000 pounds of milk per day from about 105 area producers. Fluid milk is shipped to the plant at the rate of 50,000 pounds per day from the other five plants. In periods of flush milk production, the amount that is shipped to Bluffton declines.

This surplus milk is shipped to Mansfield to be bottled. Some milk is separated each day at Bluffton, and at the present time, 70,000 pounds are separated daily. However, this amount rises in the spring and drops off in early summer.

Of the separated milk, a portion is processed into dried milk, and the remainder is condensed. Some of this condensed milk is used at the Toledo plant to manufacture ice cream.

The plant employs nearly 30 persons, including office staff. There are also three retail and eight wholesale routes delivering products in the area.

The Page Dairy purchases only Grade A milk. The reasoning is that by maintaining top quality, the products will sell themselves.

References: Don Kagy
Interviewer: Gene Long