Money is growing on trees for apple orchard owner and young MSU Alumnus Andrew Blake.
In his early twenties, Andrew successfully started the Blake’s Hard Cider and Winery business at his family-owned cider mill in Armada, Michigan. Blake’s Farms, popular among the Metro-Detroit area, has been owned by Blake’s family since 1946.
Andrew’s grandparents spontaneously bought the orchard to start a business of selling apples.
“Since a really young age, I was always helping out and working on the weekends,” he said.
Blake’s Farms was the first orchard in Michigan to invite customers to pick their own apples. The business quickly grew, and it is now one of the largest orchards in the United States, attracting half a million customers per year.
Andrew said that his years at Michigan State prepared him for entrepreneurship. He read his textbooks, but he was more interested in books about business he found out of class.
“I really had to explore a lot of different things when I got to college, and I didn’t always necessarily explore in the classroom as much as I should have,” he said.
He knew he wanted to study business in college.
“I wanted to create. I was never really great at drawing or writing, but I always looked at business as being a very interesting canvas to be able to create and do whatever on – ideas, concepts, that sort of thing,” he said.
Andrew applied his creativity to the family business when he went on an MSU Alternative Spring Break trip to Ireland. It was this trip that sparked his idea to create and sell hard cider at Blake’s Farms.
“In those times I went abroad with friends, I saw cider – you know, hard cider being a thing that people consumed regularly,” Blake said.
Blake put his idea into action. After a few years of planning, the winery and hard cider brand became concrete in 2013.
“I think (hard cider) is a growing trend that people are buying into,” he said.
The product, Blake’s Hard Cider, recently became sponsored by brewing company, Anheuser Busch Network – which is also the distributor for Budweiser.
The winery is open for all ages, serving regular cider for children and featuring various types of hard ciders and wines for adults. The cider is made from the orchard’s own apples, and grapes are bought from the West side of the state, according to Blake. Customers often rent out the winery for events, like graduations and showers.
Blake said Michigan State had ultimately prepared him for business.
“In college, that’s where you set the tone for who you’re going to be,” said Blake.