On the Grow With Blue Ridge Dairy

One can only hope Steve Renzi wasn't driving as fast as he was talking.

He squeezed in an interview about his new role as business development manager for Blue Ridge Dairy while driving from a meeting outside of the office back to his next set of duties for the bustling business. The excitement poured out of him as he described working with his friend, Blue Ridge Dairy owner Paul Stephan.

“He has always made a phenomenal product that I’ve always promoted, basically sold, but didn’t sell for him directly,” Renzi said of Stephan. “I’ve always loved it. The cheese is fantastic. The yogurt is fantastic…. It’s hard to believe that we have a local manufacturer here that produces this cheese, and not just buys curd, heats it up and stretches it, and calls it his own cheese.”

Renzi said he’d “always wanted to be a part of it,” but it wasn’t until he recently got tired of the ups and downs of the construction industry did things come together.

“I told [Stephan] the situation I was in,” Renzi said. “He started scratching his head, saying he’s never ever had somebody on board that can sell. He’s always just done word of mouth and let farmers markets sell for him. And when he saw this opportunity he kind of envisioned how I can help, and he offered me a position within.”

Stephan started Blue Ridge Dairy in Lovettsville, Virginia in 1999. He’d trained in Italy and at the Culinary Institute of America (New York). Plus, he had a significant partner: a Jersey Cow named Betty.

Four years later the business was growing so quickly he sold the farm and moved to Leesburg. Stephan’s artisan dairy products now use milk from a family farm in Maryland that meets his demand for naturally-fed and steroid-free Jersey Cows.

Stephan also insists that Blue Ridge Dairy yogurts contain probiotics. His research into autism, which has been diagnosed in two of his four children, led him to information about the impact of bacteria on health.

Blue Ridge Dairy products are now in 25 Whole Foods Markets in seven states. It’s also in other markets, several restaurants, and demand is growing. Stephan wants the business to grow, and is even planning to open a retail space in early 2012. However, there are only seven days a week, and he works every one of them. That’s where Renzi hopes to help.

“I enjoy the farmers markets. I am learning all aspects of this business,” Renzi said. “I’m actually learning how to make the cheese. I wanna help out in that aspect as well. I’d love to free him up for a day, or half a day.”

But Renzi also understands the bottom line. “My vision is to help him grow not only in numbers, but grow people. Grow the amount of batches you can do in a week. Grow the retail part of it, where people can come right into our shop and buy it right over the counter in a fridge instead of only waiting for a weekend market.”

The next time you’re at the Kingstowne Farmers Market, look for Renzi. Some day you may be able to brag about a moment of excitement you shared with him back when Blue Ridge Dairy’s “fantastic” cheeses and yogurts were usually sold at farmers market stalls.

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Blue Ridge Dairy

 19 Fort Evans Rd., SE, Leesburg, VA 20175, 703-443-6605, http://brdairy.com/index.html

Kingstowne Farmers Market Hours: Fridays, 4:00 p.m.-7:00 p.m.