Yes, they actually churn and compound their own butter at Harvest Market—it’s one of the few grocery stores in America where you’ll find a “microchurnery” operating in full view of shoppers.
But to Rich Niemann Jr., the churning is not the half of it.
“The key isn’t the process of churning butter, it’s the sweet cream that starts that process, which comes from a small family farm in central Illinois called Kilgus Farmstead. That’s the story,” says Niemann, president and CEO of Niemann Foods Inc.
“It’s unique to churn butter, but what we want to show is: Where does the sweet cream come from, and what happens to the products as you churn it?” he says. “The buttermilk goes into the biscuits we make in the bakery and serve in the restaurant. That’s how the circle happens in the store.”