The Cruze Farm cows get around — at least, their milk does.
It’s in grocery stores from downtown to Seymour to Oliver Springs. Coffee shops and restaurants regularly use and serve it. Some of the dairy even makes its way to Chattanooga and Nashville. People from around the world want it in their kitchens.
“That was almost too much exposure,” said Colleen Cruze Bhatti, who insists her only title is “farm girl,” of the two stories The New York Times produced about their buttermilk. “We were like ‘Come to Knoxville, Tennessee.’ That’s the beauty of a small business: it’s local and you have to come here to get it.”
For the last 30 years, Earl Cruze and his family have been bottling and selling milk. He’s a fourth generation dairy farmer, which makes his youngest daughter, Colleen Cruze Bhatti — who returned to the farm after graduating from UT — the fifth.
“There’s something really nice about planting your roots and saying, ‘this is home,'” Colleen Cruze Bhatti said.
When Earl Cruze was 20 years old, he bought a little patch of farmland, and now, their 160 Jersey cows roam 550 acres of government-protected land. There’s a conservation easement on the farm, so it will never be developed. Which is a relief to Knoxvillians.
“I think Cruze Farm is kind of an institution here in Knoxville,” Andy Vinson, UT alum and longtime Knoxvillian, said. “The city really prides itself on being able to bring slices of Southern culture to the masses. Farming has been a staple of Southern culture since America was founded, and I think traditions of being able to drink local milk has both a nostalgic as well as health draw.”
Every morning, Colleen Cruze Bhatti leaves her old, white farmhouse and travels five minutes to the family dairy where she milks half the cows. The other half are still heifers, cows that have not given birth and therefore aren’t producing milk yet.
Jersey cows are smaller than Holsteins, the cows used for commercial milk production, producing on average two to three gallons a day. For the Cruzes, the lesser quantity isn’t a compromise because the milk is creamier.
“A lot of people like our milk, and they don’t know why,” Colleen Cruze Bhatti said. “It’s because there’s more fat in it, which is okay because all the studies have come out saying good fat is good for you.”
The milk fat content of Holsteins is 3.7 percent while the Jersey cows’ milk is 4.9 percent, according to a study done by North Dakota University. The Cruzes take some of their high-fat milk, add a culture, pasteurize and bottle buttermilk.
Buttermilk is a staple in Southern foods like fried chicken and biscuits. Chef Jeffrey DeAlejandro, of OliBea and The Crown & Goose, has used Cruze Farm dairy since each restaurant opened. While developing a biscuit recipe for OliBea, he noticed “such a huge difference in flavor and texture” when using the Cruze Farm buttermilk. Despite the price difference between it and a commercial product, DeAlejandro insists there’s no other option.
“Even with the added expense, we know that the money is going to a really awesome family with a commitment to the stewardship of the land,” DeAlejandro said.
Another Cruze commitment: their ice cream.
They make the classics like vanilla, chocolate and cookies ‘n’ crème, but they’re not afraid to experiment. Their newest flavor “Tennessee Snappin’ Turtle” is a vanilla base with pecans, chocolate, caramel and a splash of Jack Daniels “to make it snappin’,” Colleen Cruze Bhatti said. One summer, a Japanese intern worked on the farm, and she made vegetable flavors like carrot and kale.
“It was good,” Colleen said of the kale flavor. “But it wasn’t something you were craving. Normally, you crave chocolate.”
UT graduate, Mary Ellen Knight, craves the cardamom flavors as well as chocolate. While Knight thinks of highly of the dairy, she considers the greatest asset of Cruze Farms “how personal they are.”
“Colleen is a loyal friend and truly a stakeholder in the Knoxville community,” Knight said. “Not only will she remember your favorite flavor, but she’ll ask about your family, your life and actually care about it.”
