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Strongsville City Schools and Dairymens Milk & Ice Cream Co.'s Successful Partnership

Strongsville City Schools and Dairymens Milk & Ice Cream Co. joined forces in 2005 to bring the New Look of School Milk to students at all 11 schools in the district. They created a powerful marketing and education program that catapulted them to Grand Prize winner status of the Second Annual Leadership in School Nutrition Award. Here's an indepth review of the impressive results and what they did to earn the Grand Prize.

The Shout Heard Across Ohio

The introduction of the New Look of School Milk was anything but a quiet event. Jill Orris, food service director for Strongsville City Schools, in Strongsville, Ohio took the opportunity to alert the media with an Internet press release. It generated an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer and media event coverage by a local NBC affiliate that aired numerous times throughout the state. There was a fun-filled promotion for the milk served in plastic bottles, including a 12-piece street band. While they were playing, students tasted all the flavors of the New Look of School Milk. Samples were provided by Dairymens Milk & Ice Cream Co., Cleveland, Ohio, along with exciting giveaways including T-shirts, key chains, backpacks and CD holders.

The culmination of the exciting event was when Orris was presented with a grant from the American Dairy Association Mideast, which was used to purchase five new open-air cooler milk merchandisers to attractively present the New Look of School Milk and keep it nice and cold.

Strongsville's Impressive Results

In September of 2005 Orris began serving 8-ounce plastic bottles of Healthy Cow 1% milk in white, chocolate, strawberry and vanilla flavors. In the first year of the program, Strongsville experienced a 10% increase in sales. According to Orris, "Plastic is the way milk is going, and when fast food sells and features it, our kids want it. Looking to increase the consumption of nutrient-rich milk in her schools, Orris continues, "Plastic was the way to entice kids to drink milk over soda."

Now that Strongsville offers 8-ounce plastic bottles of milk, the high school, which has had milk vending machines for almost three years, experienced almost a 20% increase in milk sales. Combined, the two middle schools saw almost a 30% increase. Kevin McHenry, sales representative for Dairymens Milk & Ice Cream Co. comments "This is quite an achievement recognizing that nationally milk consumption is down considerably in high schools and middle schools."

Thrilling Parent Thank You Calls

The result that delighted Orris the most were the thank you phone calls she received from ecstatic mothers expressing their appreciation for getting their daughters to drink milk. Orris explains, "Moms were telling me their daughters were asking for vanilla milk and they had never liked the taste of milk before!"

The 'Cool' Prize Money

Dairymens plans to donate part of the prize money to clothe needy children and honor those involved in the New Look of School Milk. The company will also offer rotating flavors in the future. Strongsville will buy another milk merchandiser to keep milk 'cold' and 'cool.' Orris explains, "Our school kids really like the open-air cooled merchandisers because they're 'so not school.' Schools need to start stepping up. The kid want products made just for them. You've got to be cool."

For more information on getting the New Look of School Milk contact your local Dairy Council^®.