Del's Farmhouse Creamery
Cody Williams
Wil-Roc Farms celebrates 67 years in business and the steady evolution of a family trade that has adapted without ever losing its roots. What began in the 1940s as a local milk route operated by the Williams family later became a full dairy operation, shaped by shifts in industry infrastructure, regional expansion, and the resilience required to stay family-run.
Today, at 67 years, Wil-Roc Farms stands as the retail expression of that legacy, two community storefronts serving house-made dairy goods, meals inspired by local ingredients, and the signature product that now travels well beyond county lines. “When you look back, it’s not one big moment that carried us this far,” says Owner Cody Williams, the third generation to lead the family’s farm and retail expansion. “It’s decades of small decisions, when to adapt, when to expand, when to double down on doing things ourselves.”
The Williams family entered dairy through practicality. In the 1930s and early 1940s, they delivered milk directly to homes, a model that began to shift with the introduction of pasteurization requirements. Rather than exiting the market, the family adapted, transitioning from delivery routes to sourcing and producing milk at scale. In 1958, they relocated their operation from Danbury, Connecticut, to Kinderhook, New York, laying the groundwork for the farm still operating today.
Generational progression carried the business forward through the 1970s to 1990s, each era marked by incremental farm expansion. When Williams returned to the family business in the early 2010s, the working equation had changed again: consolidation was accelerating across the dairy sector, and diversification had become essential for producers who wanted greater control over their output and margins. “That was a turning point for us,” Williams says. “We knew we wanted to be closer to the consumer again, the way it used to be when milk landed right on doorsteps.”
That circle closed in 2023, when the family transitioned into direct retail by acquiring and expanding an established creamery brand, now known as Del’s Farmhouse Creamery, whose products are sold across the Northeast. The purchase marked the official return from raw production into consumer-facing products, pairing the farm’s milk with branded goods distributed regionally and sold at Del’s Roadside storefronts. A second retail location quickly followed, signaling that the business’s next chapter would be built on both heritage and accessibility.
The path from milk crates to creamery freezers has spanned three generations, each building on the momentum of the last. “To grow, we knew we had to bridge the farm world and the retail world,” Williams explains. “Ice cream became that bridge. It lets us talk to customers in a way milk trucks once did, personal, familiar, local.”
While the business has expanded, its core has remained anchored in farming operations today, organized under Wil-Roc Farms, the family’s dairy production entity. The retail arms, Del’s Roadside and Del’s Farmhouse Creamery, serve as complementary extensions, bringing finished products to customers while channeling value back to the farm itself. “We are still farmers at our core,” Williams says. “Everything outward-facing works when the farm works. Without that foundation, the rest has no real story to tell.”
As Wil-Roc nears the 70-year mark, the milestone is being framed internally not as a finish line but as evidence of continuity. The company’s next objectives, expanding creamery distribution, strengthening retail presence, and advancing energy innovation on the farm, are anchored in the same philosophy that carried their milk routes in the 1940s: evolve when the world changes, but keep the work personal.
“If the next 67 years look anything like the first,” Williams says, “I hope they are built on the same thing, adaptation that serves the farm, and work that serves the community.”
Media Contact
Name: Cody Williams
Email: cody@wilrocfarms.com
Published by: Pathos Communications Ltd