Dairy Milks Old-Fashioned Value of Glass in Serving Loyal Customers

Got glass?

More than 100 dairies in Southern California once did, selling their milk in glass bottles during the 1950s. Now, that distinction belongs only to Broguiere's Farm Fresh Dairy in Montebello.

The dairy, tucked on a quiet street near the edge of town, has been around since 1920 and today serves a niche clientele that appreciates a sip of nostalgia.

Customers have a hard time explaining why they prefer milk bottles instead of plastic and carton packaging. Some say it makes the milk colder, fresher, more natural, maybe a little thicker. Or just plain better-tasting.

Whatever it is, longtime customers return regularly to the dairy's drive-thru milk stand, which resembles a giant cow with its splotches of black and white paint.

"I think it's because milk tastes better when it's cold," says Gina Ybarbo, who equates the glass bottles with colder milk.

Broguiere Farm Once Had 150 Milking Cows

The dairy's owner and president, Ray Broguiere Jr., says milk in glass tastes better because it does not pick up additional flavors from its package.

Donna Berry, consultant and editor for Dairy and Food Communications, says perception is the key to glass bottles.

"Glass conveys naturalness, an old-fashioned, back-on-the-farm freshness," Berry says.

Once, the dairy had up to 150 cows producing milk on its 5-acre farm. Monique Broguiere, Ray's daughter and the business manager, has fond stories of growing up around the Broguiere dairy farm before her grandfather had to do away with the herd to cut costs.

"I remember playing in the haystacks and making these tunnels we used to run through," she says. "It makes me sad that all my daughters get to see is a business side of it all. All they see is a big metal machine."

Ernest Broguiere, a French immigrant from the Alps, began the dairy by purchasing a lemon grove on Maple Avenue. When the lemon business failed to take off, he bought a Holstein cow and several hundred glass bottles and started selling milk. With his horse-drawn wagon painted with the dairy logo, he delivered milk to doorsteps, and his business expanded.

In 1965, Ernest's son, Ray Broguiere Sr., took over the business and made a few changes, including the painful decision to get rid of the cows.

"He kept the bottles, thank God," says Ray Broguiere Jr., who took over for his father in 1975 and plans to pass on the business to his son, Chris.