Being a milkman is not a common career path in the 21st century, but for Joseph Barszczewski, III, milk is in his blood. His father, Joseph Jr., owns and operates Arshamomaque Dairy, a dairy delivery service to restaurants and other businesses on the North Fork.
“As a little kid, I loved going on the milk route,” the younger Barszczewski said. “I mainly enjoyed getting ice cream from Star’s Confectionary or Snowflake in Riverhead and building forts with the milk crates.”
Once the pandemic hit, Barszczewski knew that home deliveries would be something that would do well. “I’ve always wanted to take over my father’s milk business, but he’s not ready to retire yet,” he said. “Over the past few years people have asked him about home deliveries. We’ve thrown the idea around and time or two. With the pandemic going on, a lot of people don’t want to go out to the store, and I thought it would be a good time to see if there’s any interest in a service like this.”
Two weeks ago, Barszczewski started Half Pint Dairy, an at-home dairy delivery service that delivers twice a week. The name comes from a newspaper photo caption of him and his father when Barszczewski was just two years old. The caption read ‘father and half pint’ referring to Barszczewski’s dad and himself, who was small enough to fit in one of the milk crates.
“It’s funny because everyone knows my dad as the milkman,” he said. “It’ll be different being referred to as the milkman and not the milkman’s son.”
But Barszczewski’s family history with dairy delivery goes even further back. In the late 1800s, Barszczewski’s great, great, great grandfather, Anton Corazzini, started a dairy delivery business after immigrating from Italy to Greenport. Soon after, his son Thomas Corazzini took over and worked the milk route for 25 years.
“Then, my great grandfather, Anthony Corazzini took over in the 1940s and delivered for over 40 years, until selling the business to my father in 1983,” Barszczewski said. Before the 1970s, his family even had their own cows — something he hopes to one day bring back into the business.
Right now, Half Pint Dairy delivers dairy and dairy alternative products all around the North Fork on Mondays and Thursdays. Most of the products are name brand and Barszczewski is working on incorporating local dairy products into the business as well. “Growing the family business gives me great pride, and servicing the North Fork provides me with even greater pride by maintaining part of our wonderful community’s history,” Barszczewski said.
To order from Half Pint Dairy or get updated product lists weekly, contact them at [email protected], call at 631-599-4253 or message them on Facebook.
