'Farmers market on wheels' to beef up services

Those who thought the days of stepping out on the front porch to get fresh milk in the morning were long gone should think again.

Winder Farms provides a service that may be eggs-actly what valley residents who are too busy to shop have been looking for. The Utah-based company, which began in 1880 as Winder Dairy, has been leaving milk, eggs and about 200 other items on the doorsteps of Summerlin homes for the past year. Recently the company announced an expansion that will let residents throughout the valley milk this service for all it's worth.

Bad jokes aside, company Vice President Mike Winder, said the service is a perfect fit for busy area residents who either don't have the time or just hate the inconvenience of running to the grocery store several times a week for a few staple items.

Wouldn't it be great to eliminate those quick jaunts to the store that turn out to be a lot longer than expected because the person in the front of the long "express" line, who doesn't know the meaning of "15 items or less," needs a price check on rutabagas?

"Besides having to fight traffic on the street and in the parking lot, there are all those impulse items once you get in the store that just add to the shopping budget," Winder said. "It's no coincidence that those items are right by the register."

While the service is not likely to replace the grocery anytime soon, Winder said local customers have embraced the concept of placing an order for regularly used items and waking up to have them waiting at the door once a week.

Here's how the service, which Winder calls a "farmers market on wheels," works.

Customers place a standard order for items they need every week. In addition to dairy products and eggs, customers can order meat and poultry, fruit, vegetables, salads and a host of other items.

They can also add items to the standing order on a given week as late as 8 p.m. on the night before the delivery.

Customers pay $2.95 per delivery and a one-time fee to purchase a cooler that keeps items fresh after delivery. Items are guaranteed to arrive before 8 a.m. (usually earlier), so many customers are able to bring them inside before leaving for the day.

Even with a limited service area, Winder Farms already has about 3,000 customers in the valley, and with the expansion Winder expects that number to grow significantly.

"We're at about 25,000 customers in Utah, and Salt Lake and Las Vegas are not that different in population, so we think that is a realistic goal here," Winder said.

Convenience only goes so far, however. If what comes to the door isn't as good or better than what comes from the store, people are not going to buy it, which Winder recognizes.

"Quality is the most important thing to us," Winder said. "It's what we were built on."

The signature product is, of course, milk, and the cold-filtered variety Winder sells is not stored in warehouses under fluorescent lights. It is shipped from the farm to the door and comes from cows that have not been injected with artificial growth hormones. Maybe that's why no Winder Farms cow has ever played a professional sport.

The environmentally conscious will be happy to know that the milk also comes in a returnable bottle that is made of a hard plastic. In another throwback to the old milk delivery days, the used bottles are placed in the cooler and picked up by the driver.

Winder says none of the company's meat products or eggs are injected with hormones, the fruit is picked, packed and shipped direct from the farm, and the bread is baked fresh daily.

The company continues to expand its product line, recently adding coffee and plans to offer free-range turkeys in time for the holidays. Other new additions to look for in the near future are deli meats and prepared meals.

The company's Web site (www.winderfarms.com) provides delivery information, a complete list of products and pricing information.