South Mountain Creamery rises to e-commerce challenge with GetSwift’s Delivery Biz Pro

Maryland-based independent dairy farm evolves into online farmers’ market.

South Mountain Creamery, based in Middletown, Maryland, was founded in 2001 to “bring back the milkman” with glass bottle doorstep delivery. The company bottles its own milk, and also makes its own butter, yogurt, and ice cream.

Initial delivery logistics were crude, as the original website was a college project and relied on Excel spreadsheets to manage delivery planning. In 2008, South Mountain Creamery, implemented software from Delivery Biz Pro a subsidiary of New York-based GetSwift. The company was actually Delivery Biz Pro’s second client, and they have used its software continually for 11 years.

With the increased logistical management capabilities provided by Delivery Biz Pro software, South Mountain Creamery now operates as a virtual farmer’s market. The company delivers a wide assortment of fresh, locally sourced dairy, meat and produce items within a 70-mile radius of its base, spanning from Baltimore to Washington to Northern Virginia.

As part of its expanded business model, made possible by its enhanced delivery logistics support, South Mountain Creamery has added products from other area dairy farms, such as meat, bread, and produce. Milk is still the “bread and butter” product for the company, but customers often add complementary products such as steak or eggs to their orders.

To place and receive delivery of online orders from South Mountain Creamery, customers first create a free account. They can then browse items directly on the site and place goods for delivery into an online shopping cart. Customers may change orders as much as they like up until cutoff time, which is 11:59 p.m. the evening before delivery. Rather than requiring checkout, any items in a shopping cart after cutoff are automatically delivered and charged to a customer’s account.

Customers also have the option of purchasing a metal cooler, also called a “South Mountain Creamery,” to enable cold deliveries to be left on their porch. Customers can also provide their own coolers, and workplace deliveries are available. Delivery personnel will pick up any empty bottles from previous orders, with a deposit.