Meet the milkman who's making dairy delivery personal

Aubrey is the senior manager of brand marketing at Vimeo. Fond of: horror movies, hot dogs, making cool stuff.
Aubrey Page
Here's how Manhattan Milk co-owner Frank Acosta is using video to keep his business moo-ving.

Frank Acosta is New York City’s modern-day milkman. For over a decade, the co-owner of Manhattan Milk has been delivering fresh produce and dairy to homes and offices in cities across the world — expanding to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London. With a personalized, white-glove approach to the old-school service, Frank and the Manhattan Milk team have built a devoted client base from the ground up. Until this spring, Manhattan Milk primarily served coffee shops, offices, and other retailers. But in light of the COVID-19 outbreak, the company is bringing things back to basics. “We went back to our roots of home delivery,” Frank says. Throughout the transition, Acosta has relied on video and social media to stay connected to his clients. With no production team or professional equipment, Frank and the team shoot content primarily on iPhones, using Vimeo Create to craft videos that keep their audience informed and engaged. We reached out to Frank to hear more about Manhattan Milk’s DIY approach to digital content and how they balance their marketing efforts with the daily dairy grind. 

Tell us about Manhattan Milk.

Manhattan Milk is a farm to table company founded on the nostalgic “milkman” concept. Our mission is simple: Deliver the freshest products straight from the farm to your table, and couple it with the highest quality service and a personalized touch.

Was this always something you wanted to do?

This was not something I planned on. However health became a cornerstone of my life at the University of Michigan, and I always wanted something that was relative to this. New York is known for having unique and hip industries and this was the perfect city to bring it to. 

How do you use video? 

We do not have a production team. We make most of our video content with our iPhones. We find it easier because we are out on the road (delivering) and have to shoot content on a daily basis. We use Vimeo to store our content. It makes links and uploads easy for posts and our website.  

What are some of your video goals?

We want to create more “brand” driven content for our IGTV and Instagram feed. Because we get a lot of press, we like to also create our own angles on our business and products. Our video strategy consists of making more “polished” videos along with being entertaining. 

How has Vimeo helped your business? 

We started using Vimeo about a year ago. Vimeo allows us to store our videos and cut them for social media and press packs.  It also allows us to organize a specific place to store our content and grab when needed.

Can you share any advice you have for anyone considering starting their own business?

You need passion, motivation, and consistency. I think where a lot of people go wrong is that they want to control their business from a coffee shop on their laptop. You need to be out in the midst of the business to feel it and grasp what is really happening, along with nurturing your relationships. It is easy to get a customer, it is harder to keep the customer. 

Try Vimeo Create

Show us what you #MadeWithVimeo

More from the Vimeo blog

Be Bougie co-founders Kasandra Scales and Allyson Hillard share how they're using Vimeo Create and Facebook to make major marketing moves.

Meet the doctors-slash-entrepreneurs using Vimeo and Facebook to boost sales by 281%

Founders Rachel Gomez and Fredo Tovar are pros at making dreamy, high-quality video in-house. Here's how they make it happen.

Viva La Bonita is telling their brand story with video

When Emily Jones was forced to put her mobile tanning business on hold, she turned to Vimeo Create to keep her brand moving.

How this beauty business threw their video production into hyperdrive

We linked up with Schuil Coffee CEO Tim Volkema to hear how they’re using video (and Vimeo Create!) to make budget-friendly content on the fly.

This coffee roaster is making impactful in-house video

Helena Bajaj Larsen has no full time employees, no office, and no video production experience. Here's how she runs one of the buzziest new fashion houses in the industry.

This 25-year-old entrepreneur is building her brand with beautiful video

The Unitarian Universalist Association is using video to keep its congregation connected. The Head of PR and Outreach shares what they've learned.

How this religious association took its community online

NYC Pride's Claudia Garib tells us how her team is honoring NYC Pride's revolutionary history, virtually.

How NYC Pride is engaging a global community with video

Jaime Schmidt and Chris Cantino can't stop, won't stop creating video content that makes an impact online. The creator couple tells us how.

How these Supermakers are using video to move the needle