70 Years of Excellence Since 1934
When J. Lindsay Nunn started his dairy with a mere seventy cows in 1934, he couldn’t have envisioned that nearly seven decades later Plains Dairy would be selling 110,000 gallons of milk a day to customers over 500 miles away. Yet, as the city’s sole operating dairy, the friendly operation remains an Amarillo icon that generates a warm, down-home feeling from a company that has annual sales that top $60 million.
Dub Garlington is President of Plains Dairy now part of Affiliated Foods. Joe Holland is Sales Manager and Michael Holliman is Marketing Manager with the company. The three oversee operations which include not only milk and other dairy sales, but also juice, drinks and bottled water across much of West Texas and nearly all of New Mexico, and even parts of Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas and Arizona.
Outstanding service to customers, a Plains trademark, was on Nunn’s mind when he took over the dairy he had originally financed for another party. He quickly added a top manager, A.F. Madison (a former Amarillo mayor), and turned the dairy into a multimillion-dollar business. The dairy was sold to National Dairy in 1955 and operated under the name Sealtest, a division of Kraft Foods. L.B. Parker purchased the dairy in 1965 and brought back the familiar Plains Creamery name. Affiliated became owner in 1996 and adopted the name Plains Dairy.
Plains receives most of its milk from large Texas and New Mexico dairies which have become some of the nation’s most efficient milk producers. 14 tanker trucks, carrying 6,000 gallons each, arrive daily seven days per week at the dairy’s 300 North Taylor facilities. Trucks haul just as many gallons of milk in various sized containers out the same day. Recent improvements and expansion of the facilities enables Plains and its 95 employees to operate more efficiently.
“Our success is only possible by providing, through teamwork, the best quality products available to the most important customer “our consumers” says Garlington. “We are meeting our customer’s needs because they have confidence in our products”.
Plains also bottles and distributes the popular “Tampico Punch”, Red Diamond Tea, and Culligan Water.
Just as it provides quality food products, Plains and its employees also give to the community through contributions to many charitable organizations. The company certainly lives up to its long-time slogan, “Your Home Town Dairy”.
