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♪
Hello.
Welcome, my name's
Leroy Shatto
of Shatto Milk Company.
I've been a dairy farmer
for going on 38 years.
We used to milk our cows
and sell to a dairy co-op,
got to where we couldn't
make much money,
so we--we either had
to sell the cows
or do something different,
so we started bottling
our own milk
in glass bottles, actually.
We've come a long way
since we started this business.
We're just about 45 minutes
north of Kansas City.
We had 80 cows' worth of milk
to get rid of,
and we didn't know
whether this was gonna work
or not.
We didn't know if we had
the location.
We didn't know if
the Kansas City people
was gonna take on to our milk,
but I tell you what,
it has been unbelievable.
We started nine years ago
doing this with 80 cows,
and now we're up to
about 400 cows.
We do different kinds of milk,
like silly things,
some people say it's silly,
but we do root beer milk,
orange dream, and banana.
We have about
nine different flavors,
which it seems like
a lot of people
are all about the flavors.
About a year before we started
bottling milk, I went around
talkin' to grocery stores,
asking 'em if they would
be favor of carrying our milk
if we got started.
At that time we didn't know
whether we was gonna
get lending.
We didn't know anything.
Matter of fact, I had
a letter of intent
if they would sign that letter
that they would maybe
have a chance of using
our milk in their store.
It wasn't legal binding
or anything,
it was just to make me
feel better that these stores
would sign it,
thinkin' they might
carry our milk in their stores.
The first day I went,
I went to eight stores,
and I got eight signatures
from all eight stores.
Matter of fact,
I felt so good about that day
I went out the next day
and actually found out
that some of these stores,
they can make their own choice
of what they carry
and what they don't,
so I went to Price Chopper--
matter of fact,
it was a Cosentino's,
and Victor Cosentino
actually the day I was
at his place said,
"What if we made you
an exclusive to all
of our stores?"
Well, at that time,
I was trying to figure out
what I was gonna do
with 80 cows' worth of milk,
and now after Mr. Cosentino
said an exclusive
to all of his stores,
I was wondering where
I was gonna come up
with enough milk to do that.
So not only did I have--
made myself a problem
the second day I went out,
but it also made us feel
proud that there might be
a--a place for our product.
♪
What sets us apart
from other dairies, I think,
is people know where
their milk comes from,
and they can actually come here
and do tours
and see the cows
and see how we operate.
They can watch us bottle milk,
they can taste the milk
here at the farm.
When we bottle milk,
we bottle about 2,200 gallons
of milk a day,
and that's about
14,000 bottles usually
every time we bottle milk.
So it kind of keeps everybody
busy in there.
And see, most of our milk
is in town the next day
after it's out of the cow.
You know, so our milk
should be the freshest milk
in town,
and that's what we strive for.
This is where the milk ends up
after we process it.
First it comes in over here
through the wall.
Those are raw milk tanks
to where we make it into
different products.
'Course we have
the separator over there.
Well, all the city people
in Kansas City drink skim milk,
so we got to separate
the cream.
So once it gets made over there,
we send it over
to the pasteurizer,
and then homogenize it,
and then once we get that done,
'course, when we pasteurize it,
it heats it up to 172 degrees,
then we cool it back down
to 36 degrees,
it comes over here
to the finish tanks,
and then we pump it
to the bottle filler,
in the bottle,
in the cooler,
you know, as quick as we can.
So this milk will go on
the trucks tomorrow.
Our milk is in glass bottles,
and I think that is
the number-one thing
that sets us apart
from the other dairies.
Our glass bottles
actually make the milk,
I think, taste better.
You don't get the plastic taste.
The glass bottle makes
our milk stay colder.
It's a better insulator
than plastic is,
and, of course, we--we have won
awards for recycling,
and a lot of people
are buying our milk
because they know that
every time they take
that bottle back to town
that keeps a plastic jug
from going to the landfill.
So when we started
doing this nine years ago,
I knew we had to do
as much different
as the big guys in town.
At that time,
one thing was
no growth hormones,
and we could always say
our cows was not treated
with growth hormones,
which most of the other
dairies could not say that.
When we started
on our new adventure,
we was just worried
about fluid milk,
and then when we got
started with that, then people
started comin' to us.
They wanted butter,
they wanted--they wanted cheese,
they wanted yogurt,
they wanted ice cream,
they want everything.
And that's a good thing
because the like our product
enough they think we could
maybe make that best.
So, you know, we started
doing cheese,
we started doing all those--
like ice cream and butter,
and, you know,
that's a good thing,
because we can branch
our brand out.
You know, we can sell
the artisan cheese
at specialty stores,
and it just makes our name
go more over Kansas City, right?
So--so that's what we done.
We've got started
in other projects.
We go through new adventures
every day.
The weather causes a lot of 'em.
Employees cause a lot of 'em.
You know, I've--I've
never had too many employees
until we started this venture,
but I found out I can get
my cows to do
what I want 'em to.
These employees
are a different deal,
all right?
But we--we are getting
a pretty good group
of people here,
since the last nine years.
We definitely learn
every day from our mistakes,
and--and we don't know
what's coming tomorrow.
We're gonna have to drag
your tractor over
to get him straight again
or we're gonna be in trouble.
♪
What you're seeing
on the road out there
was the--the driver
tried to--after our
big blizzard yesterday,
tried to cross too far south
from what he should have
and what he always does
for some reason,
I don't know.
But he--he's got 10 ton
of feed on that wagon,
and that wagon will not
go over a big hump,
especially when the tractor's
slipping on--on the ice
on the highway.
So we had to work to figure out
a way to get it off the road,
but we did keep working.
We got it off,
so everything's okay,
and I bet you a dollar
he don't cross there anymore.
So that's--that's
a good thing.
So we learn by our mistakes.
it's just sometimes
we hate to see
the mistakes, right?
What I would advise people
that want to start
their own business
is never give up.
Fight for what you want.
If--if--if you're totally
into what you think might work,
it'll probably work.
If you have reservations,
it probably won't work.
You've got--you've got
to go with it.
I mean, when we started this,
I was over here every morning
at three o'clock,
didn't usually get home
'til nine or ten o'clock,
and that was every day,
seven days a week.
I started going around,
trying to find money
to do this--this deal,
and I had about
two choices left,
'cause I was turned down
by so many people,
so many banks.
At that time,
farming was not good.
Agriculture was not good,
any of it,
and dairy was even the worst.
So for me to go in
and ask these people
to loan me money
to do this venture,
I mean, it was--it was crazy.
But this local bank,
actually he looked
through our business plan,
and--and he looked at me
and he said, "Yeah,
I think this will--I think
this will work."
He said, "I think it's time
for something like this."
So he believed in us,
and we started this,
and now he's kind of
our best friend.
I mean, I've been to banks
before--before this venture
where you had to bow to bankers
before you went in their office,
and they made you feel guilty
because you--
'cause of the markets, and--
and, you know,
there's so many things
we cannot control out here
in the dairy,
whether it be the weather,
the milk prices,
or anything like that.
So we're kind of at
the mercy of everything,
and for this banker
to believe in us
and take us on,
that made me feel very proud.
What really helped us out
is--is our e-mail.
People telling us how much
they like what we do,
and--and, you know,
I'm not used to making
any money,
so that wasn't any big deal,
'cause, you know,
it took us awhile to do that.
But just for somebody
to--for you to get pride
back in what you do.
I mean, I've milked cows
for 30, going on 38 years,
but nobody ever told me
I done a good job
or they liked what I do.
But nine years ago
when we started
bottling our milk
and people found out what we do
and how much they like our milk,
every time I go to town
with a Shatto milk shirt
or in my truck that said
"Shatto" on it,
people would come up to me
and tell me how much
they love what we do,
and--and I would get
goose bumps 20 times
every time I went to
Kansas City.
This is a 1954 Divco,
which is what they used
to home-deliver milk
to the houses.
So we show her off.
We--we've taken it
to parades before,
ride around the plaza,
and--and that kind of thing,
and it also has a horn
that I always have to show
the kids, and--
and tall people, right?
So they get a kick out of that.
When we ride around the plaza,
then people get
a kick out of it, too.
And I tell you what,
don't tell Barb,
but that--that's worth more
than any money
I could ever make.
I mean, just getting pride
back in what you do.
A lot of this stuff
we had to learn.
You know, with not only
associating with--with stores,
and the retail
and wholesale market,
because I'd never
done that before,
but we found out
that branding is--is
something big.
When we first started
nine years ago,
we done--we had our own logo
fixed up.
We designed our bottle
the way we thought
would--would look good.
But we had this company
called SHS,
Sullivan Higdon & Sink,
come to us with--
with other ideas,
and I tell you what,
they have won awards
on about everything
they've done for us,
and they have helped
our--our--our bottle
look better in
the grocery store.
I never thought about
branding or the package
selling so well
with the right
stuff on the package.
But we have learned that.
We're in about 80 stores now
throughout Kansas City.
We do not go further
than 100 miles
from the farm,
and most of our milk
goes to Kansas City.
I don't see us going
further than what we are.
I think we should just
take care of business here
where we are,
and--and--and not
mess anything up.
I mean, that--that's
the thing with us.
I mean, if people
get bad milk a time or two,
they're not gonna keep
buying our milk.
So we've got to do a good job.
We've got to take care
of the cows,
and we've got to take care
of business.
Our customers have
actually driven us
to 400 cows.
I never dreamt
of being at 400 cows.
We--when we started,
we was thinking
if we could get rid of
80 cows' worth of milk
that would be great,
but, you know,
we keep getting more stores
wanting our product,
more customers wanting
more of our product.
We have 25,000 friends
on Facebook,
and what a way to communicate
to people.
And not only communicate
to them,
but listen to what they want
and what they think
we oughta do,
and some of the--some
of the flavors we hear
from those people, you know,
we're all--we're all for it.
We--we love hearing
what the customers say,
and you've got to listen
to the customers.
Sometimes they think,
"Where in the world
these guys come up
with this stuff?"
but we get bored
out here on the farm,
and we like to play,
so--so it's always fun,
and I've always told people
I wouldn't mind to be known
as the milkman
that made milk fun,
because we've got
people drinking our milk
that gave up on drinking milk.
Actually, not only
young people,
but tall people,
so it's been--it's been
quite a journey
through the last nine years.
Kansas City has a great
environment for banking.
We take our strength
from our community
and we put our resources
back into our community.
And when banks look
to lend money,
there are generally five things
we look at.
And those five things
we call the five C's of credit.
It's actually pretty simple.
First is cash flow.
Is the business
cash-flow positive?
That's very important for us
to make sure that we can
get paid back for the money
that we extend.
Second is capital.
Is there an adequate capital
base for the organization
to grow on?
The third are conditions.
The terms and conditions
by which we'll make the loan
available to you.
The fourth one is collateral.
We have to have something,
some basis upon which
we're gonna lend.
That collateral can be
personal collateral
or it can be business
collateral.
And the last one,
and by far,
the most important,
is character.
I learned a long time ago
that you actually don't
lend money to companies,
you lend money to individuals.
And so getting to know you,
getting to understand your plan
and getting to really
understand who you are
as a person,
is equally as important
probably more important
than the other four.
And so keep that in mind.
Talk to your banker,
and there's one rule in banking
I would also want
to impress upon you:
don't ever let us
be surprised.
So to the extent that we do
extend credit,
keep us informed.
That's part of building
character and it's part of
building a long-term
relationship.
All right, guys, welcome to
the Weston Brewing Company,
my name is Mike.
We're kind of a small group
today, so questions, comments,
concerns, raise your hand,
throw something at me.
If I don't know the answer,
I'll make it up.
That's about half the tour
anyway, so money well spent.
Man, I'm kidding,
you guys are rough, jeez.
We're gonna start
with this panorama here,
this is the brewery about
1910, 1911.
The town of Weston went through
several fires,
as did the brewery,
so this is kind of a rebuild,
kind of a hodgepodge of
structures to keep
the facility up and running.
♪
And we are at the, uh--
we're in the lowest cellar
of the Weston Brewing Company.
We purchased the brewery
May of '05.
We had initially had a plan to--
my partner and I am co-owner--
We initially had a plan
to start a smaller
boutique microbrewery
that would service
Kansas City's higher end
restaurants,
we were gonna do custom
signature beers
specific to a particular
high-end restaurant.
About the time we were
firming that up,
my current partner called me
and said, "Hey, by the way,
O'Malley's is for sale,"
which O'Malley's is on the site
of the original
Weston Brewing Company.
I told him he was nuts,
I probably added a few
expletives,
but eight months after that
phone call, we were in
the works of, uh--
in the process of putting
together the finances
to make this happen,
and here we are today,
almost eight years later.
The brewery hadn't been used
for six years.
The guys that had all
the money for the project
kind of took his toys
and went home,
they locked the doors,
and it was literally as if
a virus had come to the brewery
and taken out all the people.
There was still beer
in the tanks, it looked like
it was in process,
so six-year-old beer
in the tanks when we got here.
I did taste it,
it was not good.
It took us almost a year
to refurbish
the brewing system.
Anything that was rubber,
any gaskets, any seals,
lots of the motors,
all sorts of things
had to be completely taken apart
and rebuilt from scratch,
so a little over a year
to get the brewery back
up and running.
All right, so this is
the brew house.
The back wall here,
that's the original back
of the brewery,
so that's 1842.
That runs through the back
of the brewery
into the restaurant
and connects to the lagering
cellars downstairs
which is where we house
the Irish pub today.
So a little bit about
the brewing process...
It might sound kind of silly,
but I think one of the things
that's made us successful
is we were just dumb enough
to take the plunge.
And it's been constant work.
You know, it's sweat equity,
it's blood, sweat, and tears
to keep the place running
and we made a lot of progress.
We've increased our revenue
double digits every year
since we've started.
You know, more than anything,
it's just tenacity,
it's just work, you know,
you got to believe in what
you're doing, and, uh--
and push,
push, push, push, push,
and you're gonna make mistakes,
you know, we're smarter now
than we were eight years ago
and in some ways, I think
that we don't know anything.
The more you know,
the less you know.
It's gonna feel like--
it's gonna feel like
you're failing
a lot of the time,
especially when you're
becoming successful,
it gets more expensive
to do what you do,
so tenacity, I think,
just gotta push,
just gotta drive.
To our left here,
these are two brand-new
45-barrel fermenters
that we purchased.
Delivered yesterday,
we set them up last night.
These are--
these are pretty monumental
in terms of--
in terms of investment,
in terms of where we're
trying to go.
It's kind of, uh--
business like this,
that gets--bit of a gamble,
it's a bit of a risk
in that if we waited
until we really needed
this expansion,
it'd be too late.
You'd be behind the curve,
so part of it's kind of
trying to predict when
you're gonna need this stuff,
when to pull the trigger,
and a lot of times it feels like
you're putting yourself
out there, not really knowing--
knowing where you're going,
but, uh--
you gotta stay ahead
of the curve.
There was a real disconnect
between the restaurant
and the pub, you know,
people knew O'Malley's Pub.
They didn't know
the America Bowman Restaurant.
Or people who knew
the restaurant
didn't know the pub,
so you had two different
collections of clientele.
We've tried to put the whole
facility under the moniker
of the Weston Brewing Company.
We've also added, uh,
the Inn at Weston Landing,
which is the bed and breakfast
next door to the brewery.
We purchased that because
below it is one of the four
original lagering cellars
and when that came on
the market, we felt like
we had to make a push
to grab that
to put the whole facility
back together again.
We've also purchased
the Saint George Hotel
on Main Street.
It's about a two-minute walk
from the pub,
and that's beneficial
for some obvious reasons.
So that was the upper pub.
Down the stairs,
that's the lower pub,
this room we call
the middle pub.
I would explain that
but it takes a very long time.
Man, nothing on that,
you guys are rough.
Jeez.
Believe it or not,
under the stairs, that is
the secret cellar and that's
where we're going next.
We've got really great artwork
for our beer.
We work with a company
called Blacktop.
David Terrill is the artist
that's done the artwork for us.
He's done a great job
of taking certain qualities
of each brand
and spreading it across
the spectrum of brands,
so there's a connection
between all the products.
It's so important
when there's so many beers
on the shelves,
anything that can
differentiate us,
that can tie us together--
You know, you put five beers
together, you're gonna obviously
have more visual presence
than a beer here,
a beer here, a beer here,
and everything looks different.
So branding in terms of visuals,
it is huge.
We have visual elements
in each of our brands
that kind of tie them together.
Some of the ways we treat text,
some of our colors,
some of our antiquing
techniques,
so visually, you can see
the stuff on a shelf
and you're gonna know
that, "Hey, that looks like
it comes from Weston,"
you're probably right.
So hopefully, people are making
that connection.
♪
And you make Steve
do all the labor, I see.
Absolutely.
Steve knows
what's goin' on.
See, Steve's gonna shut this
behind us and guard
the stairs, so--
All right, a couple things
to be mindful of down here,
if it's marked orange,
watch your head.
If it's not marked orange--
Watch your head.
Exactly.
Watch your feet, as well,
it's the original dirt floor,
so one eye up, one eye down.
That'll serve you the best.
♪
Are there any ghosts here?
We've seen some strange
things, yeah.
We've seen some odd things.
Craft beer in general
has really, really grown
year after year.
Most craft breweries
are almost collaborative,
you know, we realize that
it's not necessarily us
against each other.
It's really a fight
for shelf space
against your large domestics.
♪
So we believe--
we believe in hyper-local,
it's a term we've coined
that describe the market area
we want to participate in.
We're not trying
to conquer the world,
there's enough market share
in about a 200-mile radius
to, uh, to keep us as busy
as we could possibly be,
to really push us to the max.
We originally had distributor
contracts in Iowa, Nebraska,
Wisconsin, Minnesota.
We kind of changed our
philosophy on that.
Other breweries are shipping
as far as the coasts,
and that's great,
but you run the risk
of having a local retailer
not be able to get
the product.
We don't want to do that.
We want to dance with
the people that brought us,
basically.
So hyper-local, that's where
that comes from.
Way more than enough
market share to keep us busy.
These tours really drive
our business.
The vast majority of people
that show up for these tours
haven't been here before,
so this is their first exposure,
it's their first time.
There are so many "wow" moments
in the facility itself,
you know, people walk through
that tunnel to the first cellar,
you hear "wow" all the time.
They come down to the lower
cellar for the first time.
We're a bit too well-hidden
to the secrets,
so hopefully, when we have
people that come that have
never been here before,
but come back, they'll
bring friends.
These tasting are free
advertising, really.
The more people we can get
to come to the tours,
the more beer we can get
into mouths,
the more they go out
to supermarkets, liquor stores,
other bars, the more they
purchase our product,
so these tastings really--
really push our business
forward.
Better get the beer
over there.
All right.
♪
A co-production of KCPT.
And Outpost Worldwide,
at home in Kansas City.
♪
Captioned by