EMMA Acres

Coffee milk and co-ops

Anyone who’s been to Rhode Island knows about coffee milk, the flavored milk that is a beloved state tradition. “It tastes like melted coffee ice cream,” says Alexandra (Alex) LaPrise. Alex works on her family’s small dairy farm. She’s also the managing director of the Rhody Fresh co-operative that sources milk from a handful of the state’s remaining dairy farms to make and market locally branded milk, including coffee milk, of course, and other dairy products in their communities. All profits are returned back to the co-op, just like they are to members of the co-operative behind the Cabot brand, to which the LaPrises also belong and to which they ship milk beyond the needs of Rhody Fresh.