Arps Dairy was started as Arps Jersey Farm in 1936 by George Arps and was operated as a farm dairy from the George Arps farm located eight miles northeast of Defiance, Ohio. In 1938, the Art Weisenberger Dairy was purchased and combined with the Arps Dairy operation. Due to the restrictions imposed by wartime gas rationing, the Dairy was moved to 127 Broadway in 1941.
In 1948, as the business grew and additional space was needed, the present building at the corner of North Clinton Street and Ralston Avenue was erected. The following year, the entire operation was moved into the new building. In 1957, a sizable addition to the building was completed, permitting Arps Dairy to further modernize and expand it’s operation. In 1968, Arps Dairy installed their first silo, with a capacity of 5,000 gallons. That was followed with a 10,000 gallon silo in 1971 and a 15,000 gallon silo in 1986. The addition of a 2,500 square foot warehouse in 1982 enabled Arps Dairy to tear down an old barn that was used for dry storage.
During the summer of 1992, Arps Dairy undertook the largest project in their history. The project consisted of a complete modernization of the facility. This included a 1,400 square foot addition to the processing area, high-speed filling equipment for school milk, three new storage tanks with a total capacity of 19,600 gallons of finished product and computerizing all processing and clean-up. This major undertaking enabled Arps Dairy to continue to grow and better serve their customers. A high-speed plastic jug filler capable of running 75 gallons per minute and 120 half gallons per minute was added in 1996. Automatic casing and stacking equipment was also added at that time.
Always looking at process improvements, in 2003 three of their finished product tanks were replaced with three 6,000 gallon stainless steel silos that increased their finished product capacity from 19,600 gallons to 33,000 gallons. They also installed another raw storage 6,000 gallon silo. Today, the three large silos in front of Arps Dairy and the four silos on the north side of the Dairy are a common sight to travelers of Defiance’s North Clinton Street. The 5,000- 10,000- and 15,000 gallon capacity silos are used to hold fresh, raw milk that is delivered from area family-owned dairy farms.
Arps Dairy distributes its’ products within a 60 mile radius of Defiance. The raw milk supply comes from 16 local, independent and family owned dairy farms, all within 30 miles of Defiance. Using local dairy farms ensures our milk reaches the consumer quicker, thus providing the freshest, best product possible. Producers must meet our highest standards, which are stricter than those mandated by state and federal regulators.
Arps Dairy produces a full line of dairy products with more than sixty percent of the production devoted to two percent reduced fat milk. Other types of milk produced by Arps Dairy include whole milk, one percent milk, fat-free (skim) milk, egg nog, sour cream, chip dip and cottage cheese which are all still made the old fashioned way. All products from every filler are tested daily to ensure the highest quality product.
Arps Dairy also processes and packages some nondairy items. These include 100 percent pure Florida orange juice, orange drink, fruit punch and bottled water. The water is deep well water that the Dairy brings in by tanker from the Bryan area. The water is filtered twice and then sterilized by an ozonater before bottling. Every batch has been tested for quality with a sample also being sent to a certified laboratory for confirmation and inspection.
As Arps Dairy positions themselves for the future, the consumer can rest assured that they will never lose the important characteristics that have made them a success – to give the consumer the freshest, highest quality product available.