Milk doesn’t keep long, but loyalty does.
That simple truth sits at the heart of Volleman’s Family Farm in Gustine, where Frank and Annette Volleman planted roots in 1993 – and their family has been tending those roots ever since.
What began with 50 Holstein cows and a piece of Central Texas land has grown into a 5,000-head operation with milk sold in five states, guided by three generations, a crew of Aggies and a singular commitment to doing things the right way.
A legacy from Luxembourg
The Volleman family has operated dairies since the 1800s, with European roots in Holland and Luxembourg. Frank and Annette then carried that legacy to Gustine, where they settled 30 years ago and still farm today.
Frank and Annette’s four sons, Ben, David, Andrew and Daniel, grew up living and working on the dairy alongside their parents. After attending college – Ben at Tarleton State University and David ’12, Andrew ’17 and Daniel ’19 at Texas A&M University in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences – the love and loyalty they had for the family business brought them home to Gustine.
“The brothers saw how hard their parents worked to pursue the American dream and build a respected business,” said Shelby Volleman ’17, the wife of Andrew and marketing director for the family’s operation. “They knew it was something they wanted to nurture and grow for future generations.”
Shelby is one of three Aggie wives the Volleman brothers brought home, and her Texas A&M marketing degree turned out to be a perfect fit for the family brand she now helps bring to life.
“Three out of the four brothers went to Texas A&M, and they all met their significant others there,” Shelby said with a laugh. “This university has given us each other, along with degrees that help us successfully run the family business.”
Ins and outs of the operation
Caring for a herd of 5,000 dairy cattle is no small feat – and the cows are just tip of the iceberg when it comes to the operation. Luckily, the Vollemans divide the work the way most families divide a holiday meal: everyone brings something to the table.
Ben handles the farming side. David and his wife, Anna, run the dairy. Daniel manages the young stock. Andrew oversees the bottling plant. Frank is still active as CEO and Annette keeps watch over the vision they built and the eight grandchildren who are learning the rhythms and their roles, too.
In 2020, the family added a bottling operation, a decision that brought them closer to the people drinking their milk.
“We wanted the opportunity to be closer to the consumer and directly provide a product of our own,” Shelby said.
The iconic glass bottles that define the Volleman brand stand out in the dairy section of the grocery store, but they also signal something beyond good marketing: this family does not cut corners.
With each purchase of a Volleman’s Family Farm bottle of milk, customers pay a $2 deposit for the glass container. Upon returning it to their retailer, customers can either get a refund or exchange it for a fresh bottle. It’s a small act that keeps glass out of landfills and brings the bottles back to the farm where they started.
The same philosophy drives the farm’s biodigester, which converts manure into renewable energy that helps power several surrounding towns and the operation’s water reuse systems.
“We implement a lot of practices both at the bottling plant and the dairy to ensure the farm will still be thriving for our children one day,” Shelby said. “We’re loyal to our customers just as we are loyal to stewarding this land.”
The kind of loyalty you earn
In today’s transient culture, decades-long brand loyalty can be uncommon. Most companies spend considerable resources trying to manufacture it.
The Vollemans have never had to.
Their customers tour the farm in person, led by the family members themselves. They know the faces behind the bottle. They watch the family that welcomed them on their first visit still showing up, still farming the same land, and still answering questions at the gate.
“Our family leads the tours around our farm for a reason: we get to meet the people who are buying our products,” Shelby said. “I think that fosters loyalty. They know us, and they know we’re going to keep providing them with a high-quality product they can trust.”
Maintaining transparency and trust with their customers has been the Volleman way of doing things for decades, and they don’t intend to stop any time soon. These values held steady through years of farming in Holland and Luxembourg, endured a journey across the Atlantic Ocean and have grown in strength as generations of the Volleman family devote their time and talents to the farm.
“All of us who went to Texas A&M really have a passion for traditions, which shows up a lot in the way we run our business,” Shelby said. “We do everything we can to stay true to our values – the same ones Frank and Annette carried with them from Holland.”
Volleman milk is now sold in stores across Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana, Arkansas and New Mexico. The customer base keeps growing each day, but the farm in Gustine is still the same piece of land, still worked by the same family, still bottled in glass.
Some things are just worth staying loyal to.
“Watching our children grow up and fall in love with this business has only strengthened our loyalty to the brand,” Shelby said. “We want to do everything we can to steward and grow Volleman’s Dairy for the next generation.”