(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- The family that owns a dairy that supplies milk and other products to two dozen Chicago restaurants is thinking about its future, now that 80 percent of those customers are at least temporarily out of business.
It’s a ripple effect: The 20 to 25 Chicago restaurants supplied by the Kilgus Farmstead have mostly stopped doing business, at least during the lockdown.
And Paul Kilgus, co-owner of the dairy, says those restaurants’ fate is tied to the fate of his 62-year-old family business.
“It’s devastating for a lot of them. A lot of them say if this goes on too long, I don’t know if I’ll be able to start back up again.
“And that is a concern. That’s something else we keep in the back of our minds. Let alone, we need to do what we can to survive and to sustain our farm, our business here. And how do we do that if it lasts another two to three months. Who knows?”
Kilgus says his business has tried to limit production, but even so he says they’ve had to dispose of some milk.
The dairy is located in Fairbury, Illinois, about 100 miles southwest of Chicago.