Ten Finns Creamery in Menahga delivers milk products to New York Mills School 

By Tucker Henderson

Reporter

Ten Finns Creamery milk, which is produced in rural Menahga, and is now being served up to students in 10 area schools.

Ten Finns, so named after the Joel and Amanda Hendrickson family’s eldest 10 children (they’ve had three more for a total of 13 now) on their fifth-generation, 310-acre Finnish dairy farm, is Minnesota’s first exclusively A2 dairy herd and creamery. Menahga School has been serving Ten Finns milk for a couple of years and now nine other public schools, including NY Mills School on top of a number of stores locally and throughout the Midwest, are buying it this school year.

Some local school superintendents recently took a field trip, organized by Menahga Superintendent Jay Kjos, to the local creamery a few miles southwest of Menahga. The nine other public schools now buying Ten Finns milk as of this school year are in Sebeka, Wadena, New York Mills, Park Rapids, Staples, Henning, Perham, Pequot Lakes and Pine River. 

NY Mills School recently awarded Ten Finn Creamery the bid for the school’s milk consumption during the 2024-25 school year, a switch from Cass Clay Creamery who supplied milk for the past four years.

“It’s the first time that Ten Finns was awarded the bid,” said NY Mills School Superintendent Adam Johnson. “They helped us last year—our previous milk provider had a supply issue and Ten Finns filled in for them—so we’ve had them before, but this is the first time that they’ve been our official provider.”

Johnson, who also hails from Menahga, was happily surprised to hear that Ten Finns had won the bid in late July 2024. He appreciates that fact that the school’s milk comes from a local provider who is easy to get in contact with.

“I know Julie Peterson who runs our food service, she can get ahold of them anytime,” said Johnson. “I think having somebody local has been great for us and I know Ten Finns Creamery keeps growing, they’re in multiple schools now and they’ve been really successful, so it’s been really good.”

On top of the mainstay regular and chocolate milk options in the school cafeteria, a new favorite is Ten Finns strawberry milk, which recently was introduced to the district’s students’ diets. While the non-homogenized aspect of the milk was new to many students, it is well liked by both students and teachers alike.

“I’ve only heard good things,” said Johnson. “There’s definitely benefits to the A2 milk. I don’t think we’ve had any kids complain, it’s unique and different and it’s been successful for sure.”

The family creamery produces milk generally considered healthier than most dairy milk sold today because people can more easily digest the A2/A2 milk that Ten Finns produces versus the more commonly produced A1/A2 milk.

“Most dairy cows produce milk containing both A1 and A2 proteins,” say the Hendrickson’s on their website www.tenfinnscreamery.com. “The A1 protein is often the cause of digestive discomfort in many milk drinkers. Our cows produce milk with only the A2 protein. It’s that simple.” 

Hendrickson read, before Ten Finns began selling its milk in stores December 19, 2019, that most dairy milk used to contain only the A2 form of protein but, due to a natural mutation occurring in cows over time, they began producing the A1 protein, as well, which has reportedly led to upset stomachs and other health-related issues in a number of people. So, the Hendrickson’s decided to only breed dairy cattle that have the A2 protein in their milk in order to lessen disruptions to the digestive system and overall general health.

“Now, more people with milk sensitivities can comfortably enjoy creamy, real milk,” the Hendrickson’s say on their Ten Finns website.

Along with the benefits to everyone’s digestive systems and health overall, Johnson also noted the benefit of the example Ten Finns Creamery shows NY Mills students as a small local business. Not only is the creamery a recent business venture, it is also a family-run farm and creamery which continues to expand around Minnesota and into the Midwest.

“Students can see the growth of a business,” said Johnson. “Ten Finns Creamery wasn’t around when I was in school, so I think seeing a business grow like this and how to do it successfully is really cool for the kids to see. Obviously, we’re in farming country, so it’s a great example of a successful farm that’s going right now.”

The expansion of the dairy products into the schools this school year makes the schools a large portion of Ten Finns business. Hendrickson said on average 3,000 gallons of milk per week are going to the schools and 70 percent of that is chocolate milk. By contrast, Ten Finns sells on average 300 gallons of milk per week to stores and about 95 percent of those sales are whole milk. Hendrickson said Ten Finns sells, on average, 120 gallons of milk per week in Menahga alone.

“For a little town, that’s a lot of milk,” he said.

Hendrickson said Ten Finns has invested in the 8-ounce carton machines for packaging the milk for the schools and also installed a larger separator, as well.

“Now we’re looking at upsizing our pasteurizer,” he said.

Ten Finns products also include 2 percent milk and A2 salted butter. All products sold outside the local area including Wisconsin, Upper Michigan and South Dakota are distributed by Mason Brothers Wholesale Grocery out of Wadena. This includes products sold by Hendrickson relatives at the Mohawk Superette grocery store in Mohawk, Mich., which is near Calumet, Mich.

Joel and Amanda’s niece, Jenna Pinoniemi, makes deliveries to distribute Ten Finns products locally. The eldest of the Hendrickson children, Zach, has now graduated from high school and has decided, at least for now, to continue working the family business. The other 12 siblings, from eldest to youngest, are Maddie, Julia, Lucy, Lily, Maria, Lane, Nora, Finn, Emma, Bree, Maryn and Ada.

Hendrickson said the herd, averaging around 145 head, is made up mainly of Holsteins with some Swiss and some Brown Swiss/Holstein crosses. 

The A2 milk that Ten Finns produces is minimally processed and non-homogenized with the cream settling on the top.

The Hendrickson’s say the best way to gauge demand for their dairy products is when people ask for them by name in the stores. And their own children have been learning quite a bit about the family business.

“They’re learning the whole process of how the milk gets from the cows to the store,” said Hendrickson. “And all about food safety and the business end of it all.”

The Ten Finns logo, website and milk carton have all been designed by Ideas That Kick, a Minneapolis-based agency.

“Ten Finns has been great,” Johnson said. “It’s a great partnership and I really appreciate what Hendrickson and his family are doing.”