Pavel's Yogurt

Pavel's Yogurt Company About Us Pavel's Original Russian Yogurt began in the early 1970's as a retirement project for a Russian migr . Paul ( Pavel ) Malcoff was born on a dairy farm in Siberia in 1894, where he learned yogurt and cheesemaking. He led a dramatic and risky life before finally coming to the USA. After fighting on the losing side in the Russian Revolution, Malcoff eventually made his way to Shanghai, where he helped run the dairy in the British Concession from 1927 until the Japanese Army and World War II forced its closure. After the war he was forced out of China by the Red Chinese Army, and worked a farm in Brazil, until he met and married a retired American schoolteacher and came to San Francisco with her. He was employed by the Del Monte company for several years. Now 75 years old, his retirement project beckoned. He began making yogurt again, on a household stove and storing it in household refrigerators, in glass Mason Jars. He sold his first order of Pavel's Yogurt to one grocery store in San Francisco. It was the same yogurt his family had made in Siberia on the family farm, the same yogurt he made in Shanghai, and the same product we now make and sell in stores all over the West Coast. In his 80s, Malcoff hired Don Sortor to upgrade his production facility and operate it. After working with Malcoff for three years, Don purchased Pavel's Yogurt in 1978. Over the next thirty years the Sortor family has expanded Pavel's Yogurt Company according to very simple principles: Make quality products, using the best ingredients, and the company will grow naturally. It has ; we've moved twice since then, into larger facilities to meet growing demand. We have never advertised, believing that the best promotion is by word of mouth, from customers who recommend Pavel's to their friends, and it has worked: Pavel's is now available in all of California and the Western States, including Hawaii. We receive calls and letters from customers praising the quality and taste of Pavel's yogurt, and we are committed to continue earning that support.