Nostalgia knocks on Margie Haile's door every Wednesday night.

That's the evening the Wyomissing Park mother gets a delivery from Doorstep Dairy.

"It's modern convenience meets something old-fashioned," she said of the service that brings milk, eggs and more to her porch, "and my kids love the taste of the milk."

Doorstep Dairy is the brainchild of Daryl Mast.

He grew up on a dairy farm in Morgantown, and his grandfather delivered groceries.

Mast, who lives in Terre Hill, purchased a livestock transport business in 2000, but he longed for something different.

"Maybe I'm a dreamer," he said. "I've always had different schemes or ideas in my head.

"There've been very few times in my life when I've punched a timeclock. I like the idea of small business."

Mast, 38, consulted his wife, Karen, about the idea of bringing back the milkman, with a twist.

He loved the idea of using local vendors to supply products to consumers throughout central Pennsylvania.

"We have all these great businesses locally that offer excellent products," he said, "and we have people who are looking for local options or something different to try. I started thinking, 'What can we do to serve these people?'

"(Doorstep Dairy) seemed like a viable way to make a living and a viable business. We could have gone so far as to start our own dairy and bottle our own milk, but that seemed a bit much."

Instead, he turned to Yoder's Country Market in New Holland, where he knew he could get milk in glass bottles.

He thought that would fit nicely with the type of delivery business he wanted to start.

Mast started researching home delivery companies around the country and launched Doorstep Dairy in 2010, while continuing to work full time in his livestock business.

"This was almost more of a hobby for me when I first started," he said, "because I was putting so much time into my full-time job."

Mast's first route, which included Honey Brook, Elverson and Morgantown, started small.

"I only had eight or nine customers at first," he said.

He advertised through a press release in a weekly paper in the area and by direct mail to select neighborhoods.

Soon, however, the business began to grow largely through word of mouth among his customers, who loved the convenience of having products they used so often delivered to their doorstep.

He expanded his service to include a route in Berks County in 2011. Today, he also delivers throughout the Dowingtown and Exton areas, serving 250 homes.

"We have interest from Harrisburg to Philadelphia," he said.

As the business grew, Mast knew he had to take a leap of faith.

He sold his livestock business at the end of 2011 to focus solely on Doorstep Dairy.

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On a recent chilly Wednesday night, Mast loaded up his refrigerated truck behind Yoder's Market.

It's a new truck he purchased this year, replacing a step van with 300,000 miles on it.

Yoder's allows Mast to store items like eggs and cheese in its refrigerators; he picks up additional fresh items like baked goods and vegetables along his delivery route.

Yoder's would allow him to sell anything they offer in their store as part of his delivery service, Mast said, but it's important to him to stick to local products.

"I want to be able to tell people where their food came from, and by where, I don't mean from Dole or Kraft," he said.

His vendors include September Farm Cheese, New Holland Coffee Co., Kreider Farms and Lancaster Farm Fresh Cooperative.

On delivery nights, Mast puts in nine to 12 hours running his routes.

When the refrigerated goods are packed in place, Mast heads off to Stoudt's Wonderful Good Bakery in Adamstown. There he'll pick up the week's offering.

"It's honey pecan bread tonight," he said.

Then, he's off to make deliveries.

Customers log on to Doorstep Dairy's website — doorstepdairy.com — to place their orders.

They can change their orders weekly or place a "set it and forget it" standing order. There's no minimum order and no contract to sign.

Mast admits his service is not for everyone.

His prices are higher than what you'd find in a grocery store; he charges $3.75 for a half gallon of milk, for instance, with a $2 glass bottle deposit and a $2 to $4 delivery charge tacked on to each order.

"This is really a service for people who have the means and the interest," he said.

But Mast adds this perspective: "If you're willing to spend $4 or $5 on a coffee at Starbucks, you're getting a lot more from me."

On his delivery route, Mast fills orders as he goes, checking a list at each house.

He doesn't use an old-fashioned wire carrier to transport the milk and other products to customers; instead, he carries everything in milk crates.

He uses a light clipped to his baseball hat to see where he's going as he navigates walkways and driveways in the middle of the night.

Customers can place their own coolers on their porches for products or purchase an insulated box from Doorstep Dairy.

Mast is the sole employee of the business, but his mom helps with bookkeeping, and his wife, who homeschools their three boys, provides clerical and moral support.

His sons, ages 2, 4 and 6, often ride along with their dad for part of the route.

So far, he hasn't missed a delivery day because of bad weather — he has moved delivery days up a day or two to avoid a snowstorm — and he has enlisted cousins to help keep deliveries on schedule when his family took a vacation this summer.

Mast has never met many of his customers, but there are some who have made a point to get to know the man coming to their doorstep.

Scott Parks and his wife, Nan, of Sinking Spring, have been using Mast's services since June.

With three kids in his house, Parks knows how quickly his family can go through milk and other items.

"We believe in buying local as much as possible, and this is exposing us to even more local products than we were buying before."

The Parks family purchases milk and butter on a regular basis, participates in the vegetable share and sometimes orders coffee through Mast.

Parks often meets Mast at his truck and helps him carry the deliveries to the house.

"... And what I really like is, even though he's going to be going till 4 or 5 in the morning, I never feel rushed with him. He will stop and talk about his week or listen to stories I have to tell."

Margie Haile, who's been using Doorstep Dairy for about nine months, agreed that Mast is part of the appeal.

"He's still smiling when he gets to our house, even though it's often after 11 at night," she said. "My kids will sometimes watch for him to deliver and they get excited to see him."

Haile's family enjoys milk, chocolate milk, bread, eggs and flowers from Mast's company.

"We've been dipping into a little bit of everything he offers," she said.

She enjoys the products and she loves the initiative Mast took in starting the business.

"We need more people like him," Haile said.

Mast said the customers are his favorite part of the job.

"One woman on my route gives my sons books every Christmas," he said.

Another stayed up late until Mast arrived with his delivery so she could personally present him with homemade Christmas cookies.

Yet another leaves a Thermos full of coffee on her porch for him every week.

As the business continues to grow, Mast is looking into expanding deliveries into Lancaster County.

He's had a lot of interest, but he can't add stops to a route until he gets several customers close together.

"It doesn't make financial sense to drive a long way for one or two customers," he said.

He's toying with the idea of offering pickup locations on a weekly basis for customers who aren't on a regular delivery route.

For now, he's focusing on stocking up on product, running his routes and serving his customers.

He's making some sacrifices for the business — primarily, sleep.

"I don't sleep much because I work all night but I like to be up and around for my family at home," he said.

"My wife and I are night owls to begin with, so that works out well, but a bad side of this job is I'm not at home three nights a week."

Still, he can't envision doing anything but this job.

"I like what I do," he said. "I like that I can offer something unique for people."