Westby Creamery Has Faced & Overcame Crisis in the Past

Jun 08, 2020 (Westby, WI)

It has been a turbulent environment for many businesses during the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic, and for many, it has been a time of hardship. But Westby Cooperative Creamery has faced many devastating events in its 117 years of operation and always comes out on the other side, as it will during this crisis.

Just think: The Creamery was in business during the Spanish Flu, WWI, WWII, Viet Nam, the Great Depression, and several recessions. What makes us so resilient?

Even before my time, Westby Creamery has always been an innovator and willing to change. The farmers have always been concerned about the health of the business because, as they’ve expressed, it’s a better experience to deal with an agile, small company.

Just as the farmers like dealing with a smaller operation, so do the Creamery’s customers. These customers have been extremely supportive during the pandemic. And while some customers have suffered the effects of business closures, others have seen increases in demand. These factors have basically canceled each other out to the point where the Creamery is operating at forecasted volumes.

Helping us produce these volumes have been our unwavering employees, who continue to care for the health of the business.

In short, our agility committed employees, farmers and customers have all had a part in the Creamery’s success through this pandemic. The final component is the long-standing relationships we have with our vendors, who have worked to avoid disruption in supply and ingredients. With their help, operations remain uninterrupted.

There will be lessons learned in surviving COVID-19 and we will use them to strengthen our future as we have every time we’ve faced a crisis in our 117 years of operation.

By Pete Kondrup, Westby Creamery General Manager