Doesn’t it feel like every time you turn around there’s another Royal Farms store being built? This is definitely a good sign for the company, especially at a time when so many businesses on a whole tend to be shuttering various locations or going out of business altogether. But not Royal Farms. If anything, the company continues to grow and expand each and every year.
But did you know that Royal Farms has surprisingly local origins? It’s easy to overlook, especially if you live in the Mid-Atlantic where there are so many locations in abundance. That’s why, in this Flashback Friday Feature, I’m highlighting the overall history and emerging developments of the Royal Farms franchise through the years.
The story behind Royal Farms begins in 1918 with the founding of Baltimore’s Cloverland Farms Dairy, organized by Maynard C. Kemp and his brothers (originally from Frederick). By 1919 they had already established themselves in delivering Guernsey-sourced milk (by horse-drawn cart) to residents in throughout Baltimore. In ironic hindsight as a company that would later be renowned for their “World Famous Chicken,” during the early Cloverland years they familiarly distinguished themselves from other distributors in advertising the fact that they had cows. They even had a popular jingle reiterating “If you don’t own a cow, call Cloverland now.”
The company opened its first official “milk store” in 1959. That location in Baltimore remains its official headquarters even today.
The store’s opening occurred around the time when the demand for at-home milk deliveries was declining, which coincided with innovative new improvements in milk production that allowed for extended shelf life, making it great to stock in markets and shops. This was also when the convenience store concept was beginning to emerge.
While the first “white jug” locations did carry various convenience items in-house in addition to its dairy line, it was still a far cry away from the Royal Farms stores of today. In fact, it didn’t even officially receive the name “Royal Farms” until 1968. The name was chosen to mutually pay homage to both Cloverland Farms Dairy and the Ellicott City-based Royal Dunloggin Dairy following a merger between the two.
As the 1970s progressed, more and more Royal Farms stores starting popping up. Soon all corresponding chains were operating seven days a week between the hours of 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., rightfully keeping up with the competition of other convenience stores in all ways possible. This also included expanding the line of in-store offerings to include such items as hot coffee, frozen soft drinks, doughnuts, and more.
Eventually, they made a bold move that actually upstaged its competitors once and for all; they added an in-house kitchen for serving up made-to-order food on the spot. While other convenience stores did offer fried food, their presentations were neither fresh or made onsite. But Royal Farms refined the quality of such features with one anchoring product in particular—their house made fried chicken which has since come to be known as “World Famous Chicken—Always Fresh, Never Frozen” available 24 hours a day (yes the hours at all locations eventually expanded to being 24/7 operations also).
The development of Royal Farms World Famous Chicken is twofold. First is Maryland’s preexisting long history in poultry production. Then, there was that lucky inspiration by a fryer salesman and a “borrowed” fried chicken recipe utilizing Purdue brand chicken. The recipe was eventually customized by the company into something original, new, and downright delicious.
While Royal Farms is still most renowned for its hallmark chicken, the company is now popular for other onsite mainstays as well. All locations now boast free ATMs, lottery sales, and exclusive Maryland-based products, like Cow Tales, Berger cookies, and Cloverland Dairy milk products, of course. Most store sites also now double as gas stations that include air pumping stations and electrical vehicle charging stations. You’ll also find a large stationary chicken onsite of many of the more modern locations. That’s Foghorn, the official Royal Farms mascot, as of July 6, 2005—his official hatch date.
Royal Farms is still a privately owned operation of convenience stores, now boasting more than 200 locations throughout the greater Mid-Atlantic region. Chains are scattered all throughout the states of Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and more recently North Carolina. Nearly half of all Royal Farms locations, though, can still be found in its original home state of Maryland.
But, as I mentioned early, an extension of the chain is eminent and forever progressing. Perhaps someday there will be stores in all 50 states and even international locations. And we can bask in knowing that we live in the region where it all began.