Meet the man delivering milk door-to-door during the pandemic

Orders pour in for milk man Watch: Orders are pouring in for the city’s last milk man during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taylor Rattray reports.

REGINA — Regina’s last door-to-door milkman is keeping business moo-ving throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.

Kevin Ramstead has been a milkman for the past 25 years.

“I grew up on a farm and worked for a farmer out of town,” said Ramstead. “I was looking to start some kind of small business, and (saw) a milkman driving around. So, I just stopped him and asked how a guy would go about getting into the business.”

The man knew another milkman who was looking to sell his business. Ramstead bought that operation, and pretty soon he was the last one doing home deliveries in Regina.

“There used to be like 17 of us when I started. And it dwindled down over the years,” said Ramstead.

The Covid-19 outbreak brought a new set of challenges for Ramstead. Commercial customers, like hotels, daycares and schools, shut down amid the pandemic.

To make up for the lost business, Ramstead’s girlfriend, Rheanne Fazakas, made Ramstead a Facebook page.

“The first week we started it up, we started getting calls because people don’t even realize there is a home delivery service still out there for milk and dairy products,” said Fazakas.

Since the page started three weeks ago, Ramstead said he’s received between 500 and 600 new inquiries. Now, he’s making deliveries to about 100 to 125 homes a day, nearly double the number of home deliveries he did before the pandemic.

Audra Langton is one of Ramstead’s new clients.

“His prices were very comparable to what we would pay in the grocery store. And so, instead of having to go to shoppers to buy our milk, we decided to get his service so we wouldn’t have to go to one more store and put our family at risk,” said Langton.

Langton plans to continue supporting Ramstead after the pandemic is over. Ramstead is hoping others do the same.

“More people are looking for that convenience and not having to run out to those convenience stores, and have it delivered right to their doorstep again,” said Ramstead.