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History…
Hans grew up in Europe during World
War 1 and experienced first hand what it was like to have money
but no food, (only farmers had food) for nine months all his family had
to eat were turnips. For a lack of family resources, in his late teens
he left home to find a better life. This took him on an adventure to
South America, Africa and eventually to meet up with his childhood
sweetheart in Buffalo, NY.
They married, and a year later had a son named Herman. Hans went
to work in factories as a machinist (as he was trained in Europe), He
also tried a food market, and it failed. Later he was involved in a
number of different dairies, bottling and delivering milk. Remembering the hunger he experience in his younger years
Hans always wanted to live on a farm, in 1936 he started looking for
one. Mary, his wife, didn’t take to this idea very well, country life
was hard, they compromised and Mary agreed to farm life if it had indoor
plumbing. That narrowed the choice to 1 farm, the one on Crittenden Road
in Akron. In 1936 (even though they didn’t have a clue
about farming), Hans and Mary bought that farm. It was a typical farm,
couple of cows, a horse, pigs, ducks, a few chickens. They also grew
vegetables and had fruit trees. 1937 was tough; a kerosene
heater caught fire and burned both barns down. Hans and Mary were
devastated, it left a life long impression on their 7-year-old son as
well. Over the next few years they rebuilt; nearly bankrupt, Hans was
desperate for a means to generate income from this farm. World War 2 gave him that
opportunity. With beef rationing, poultry became very popular, and Hans
filled the barn with chickens. Through trial and error, he developed
ways to raise and prepare chickens for sale that were more desirable
than most others in the business.
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The
name AKRON POULTRY FARMS was registered. Hans did a brisk
business selling mostly to neiborhood deli’s and a few homes in the
city (Buffalo). 1948, his son Herman entered
the business. Herman’s passion was for home delivery sales.
This proved a good choice. In the 1960’s super markets
rapidly gained popularity, putting an end to the neighborhood deli’s.
The home delivery business did well because the quality of our goods
exceeded that of the larger markets who stressed price. As the standards of quality rose, it became clear, the
Crittenden Rd. farm was not going to produce the best of all products.
At that time partnerships and agreements with other farms were
established, and along with are own goods we were able to continue to
offer the best. 1974, Hans’ grandson Mark
entered the business. More specialty products were introduced, such as
“ Boneless chicken breasts”, Plainville Farms turkey products,
peaches and more. 1987, George takes over for
retiring Herman and brings an attitude of higher quality for all our
products. OUR
MISSION STATEMENT…… It is our goal, to grow, or find someone who is growing, the very finest
and most wholesome agricultural products that a person or family can use
in their day-to-day life. We will also deliver it to your home
personally to assure its freshness and quality and to give you as much
information about the product as possible. Sincerely
yours, Hans
Midecke (Founder) Herman
Midecke, (semi-retired) Mark
Midecke (Current) George
Kieffer (Current)
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