When you are selling a product that has been around for 4,000 years, it’s sometimes hard to see yourself as innovative. But even when your product–in this case milk–doesn’t evolve much, there is plenty of room for innovation in your processes and your business.

The milk business is a low-margin, commodity-based business that is highly regulated. Therefore, it can often seem like the right move to constantly look for ways to lower prices just a little, take some business from the competition, and drive volume up to increase your margin. But in my time as President of Turner Dairy Farms, I’ve learned that the seemingly ‘safe’ path is not always the best. As an Evergreen® business that is willing to innovate, pivot, and try new things, we have continued to grow and thrive since we were founded 92 years ago. In many cases, we’ve had to resist the urge to reach for what seems like the obvious answer because, just as often, it turns out it is not the best.