Meet the Sisters Who Saved Their Family’s Farm With Yogurt

When demand for traditional cow’s milk began declining and their family dairy farm faced an uncertain future, sisters Stephanie and Hayley Painter decided to turn the milk they were producing into something consumers wanted: Icelandic-style skyr yogurt. The sisters grew up on Painterland Farms in Tioga County, Pennsylvania, where their family has been farming for four generations. Dairy farming was a way of life long before Stephanie and Hayley began thinking about how they could help preserve it for the next generation. But the dairy industry became increasingly difficult for smaller family farms. The sisters watched other farms close and realized their own operation could eventually face the same fate. They knew they needed to find another way to create value from the milk their cows produced. Instead of abandoning the family business, the sisters began exploring the idea of creating a value-added dairy product. Their goal was not simply to launch another food brand. They wanted to create a business that could help keep their farm operating while strengthening the connection between consumers and American farmers.

From Family Farm To Yogurt Brand

Stephanie and Hayley began planning the business in 2018 and officially launched Painterland Sisters in 2020. Their first yogurt cups were sold in March 2022. The sisters ultimately settled on skyr, a thick, creamy Icelandic-style yogurt traditionally known for its high protein content. They partnered with an experienced Icelandic yogurt maker and used their family’s organic milk as the foundation for the product. Skyr also gave them an opportunity to create something different from the crowded Greek yogurt market. Painterland Sisters’ yogurt is lactose-free and made with whole milk, with some varieties containing up to 18 grams of protein per 5.3-ounce serving. The brand offers flavors including Vanilla Bean, Passion Fruit, Blueberry Lemon and Meadow Berry.

Turning Milk Into Something Bigger

The business model allowed the sisters to do something that traditional commodity dairy farming could not always provide: create a branded product directly connected to their farm. Instead of simply selling milk into the broader dairy supply chain, the family could build a consumer-facing business around what it was already producing. The sisters have focused on creating a direct connection between consumers and the farmers responsible for producing their food. That connection has become one of the central ideas behind Painterland Sisters.

From A Pennsylvania Farm To Stores Across America

What began as an attempt to protect one family farm eventually grew into a much larger business. The brand expanded from its initial retail locations into thousands of stores across the United States. Painterland Sisters has continued expanding its distribution while building recognition for its skyr yogurt. The sisters have also sought to extend the model beyond their own farm. The company has worked with additional Pennsylvania dairy farms, creating another market for milk produced by family farmers. That means the original idea has evolved from simply saving the Painter family’s farm into a broader effort to create additional demand for milk produced by other family farms.

A New Generation Of Family Farming

Stephanie and Hayley Painter are now co-founders and co-CEOs of the company, but their identity as farmers remains at the center of the brand. Their story illustrates how some family farms are looking beyond traditional commodity agriculture to survive in an increasingly competitive food industry. Instead of simply producing a raw agricultural product, the Painter sisters built a consumer brand around the milk their family was already producing. The result is Painterland Sisters, a yogurt company born from a very practical problem: how to keep a family farm alive. What started with two sisters trying to protect their family’s cows has become a growing food brand, while the original farm remains at the heart of the business. For Stephanie and Hayley Painter, the goal was never just to sell yogurt. It was to find a way for their family’s farming story to continue.