Get to Know Vermont Creamery, the Company That Brought Goat Cheese to America

It’s common to see goat cheese on menus these days, incorporated in everything from appetizers to desserts. But only a few decades ago, this tangy ingredient was relatively uncommon in the United States. Vermont Creamery has played an instrumental part in changing that.

Back in 1984, the company was founded in the state’s Green Mountains by Allison Hooper and Bob Reese. She’d just returned from an internship in the Brittany region of France, where she’d learned to make cheese. He was working for the Vermont Agency of Agriculture, organizing a special dinner prepared with state-made ingredients. When a French chef participating asked for goat cheese, there was no time to import any from France — so Reese asked Hooper to make some, and she delivered.

News of this Vermont goat cheese soon spread throughout chef circles in New York City. “They were saying, ‘This is a high-quality, locally made ingredient, and no I no longer have to import it from France, so I’ll give it a try,’” shares Adeline Druart, president of Vermont Creamery. Little by little, the company began building credibility, and eventually, consumers started wanting to buy the product too, she says.

Today, you can find Vermont Creamery products — including goat cheese, cultured butter and crème fraiche — in thousands of stores around the country, including Whole Foods and Kroger.

Even as it’s grown, however, Vermont Creamery has held steadfast to the same values it was founded on — producing a top-quality product with the freshest local ingredients, and honoring its people and farmers who make it happen.

See more: In-Cider Knowledge: A Tour of Vermont’s Best Cideries

Goat Cheese Greatness

Goat cheese is far from new. In fact, it’s been made for thousands of years. One reason it’s been coming into such popularity in the U.S. is increasing nutrition awareness. Not only does goat cheese add a delicious, tangy punch to any dish it’s added to (so a little can go a long way!), it also is leaner than most cow’s milk varieties, contains good-for-you probiotics, and is a great source of protein and calcium. Goat cheese is also a nice alternative for those allergic to cow’s milk or who have trouble digesting cow’s milk products.

So how is goat cheese made? At Vermont Creamery, it starts with fresh goat’s milk. Then starter culture is added, which acidifies the milk to form the curd and produces flavor. This takes about 20 hours to ensure the best flavor and texture, Druart says. Once this process is complete, the curd is strained through cheesecloth to extract the whey. “You go from something like a smoothie texture to something that looks like fresh goat cheese,” she adds. When the right moisture and density are reached, that’s when it gets packed — as a plain goat cheese log, or rolled in herbs or blueberries — or aged. The profile of aged goat cheese, which develops a rind after about two weeks in the aging room, is a bit saltier and has a rich nuttiness to it, Druart says.

Get the recipes: Savory Pear Tart with Goat Cheese, Arugula and Balsamic, Puff Pastry Tart with Goat Cheese and Tomato, No-Bake Apricot Goat Cheese Tart

Some of the most common ways to use fresh goat cheese are crumbled on top of salads, as a pizza or flatbread topping, folded into pasta, or whipped into a cheesecake. Aged goat cheese, on the other hand, can be used any of these ways, too, but is best enjoyed as a snack, Druart says. Her favorite combo? Vermont Creamery’s aged Bijou goat cheese with gingerbread crackers and a drizzle of honey.

Making America’s First Mascarpone

Mascarpone, an Italian cheese that’s similar to cream cheese but with a silkier texture, is another product that Vermont Creamery has mastered. When the movie “Sleepless in Seattle” came out in 1993, the famous tiramisu scene drove consumers to try making that dessert, Druart says. And to do so, they needed mascarpone — but at the time, all the mascarpone was imported. A chef pitched Vermont Creamery to start making it, and another top-selling product was born. Vermont Creamery’s mascarpone (made from cow’s milk) differs from most Italian and domestic varieties, though, in that it has more fat — and as such, is more yellow in color and has an almost caramel-like flavor.

Other than tiramisu, mascarpone has many more savory and sweet uses — and if you have some leftover, you’ll want to use every last spoonful, as it’s on the pricier side compared to cream cheese. Druart recommends substituting an equal amount for cream cheese in cheesecake, using it in vegetarian lasagna instead of white sauce, finishing risotto with a dollop on top, or making mascarpone crème brulee.

A Mission-Driven Company

After graduating from the National Dairy School of France, Druart first came to work at Vermont Creamery as an intern 18 years ago. Her first job was wrapping butter, and later, cheese. Little by little, she kept getting promoted — until she reached her current role as president five years ago.

Investing in its employees is a top priority for Vermont Creamery. Each of its 135 employees are called “Bettermakers,” and the company became a Certified B Corp in 2014. “What we make is equally as important to the impact we have,” Druart says. When farmer-owned cooperative Land O’ Lakes purchased Vermont Creamery in 2017, it opened up a world of new resources to help continue its mission — including increasing its starting wages three years in a row — and accelerating new product innovation, like new goat cheese dips and 82% butterfat cultured butter.

Another focus for the company is developing a strong network of family farms. Early on, Vermont Creamery started as a farmstead operation, but now it collaborates with a network of farms in the state and also neighboring Quebec to source milk. “Over the years [we’ve] created an incredible demand for goat cheese — 30 years ago Americans didn’t know they wanted it; now they love it,” says Druart. “We are taking [advantage of that market] to strengthen dairy farming in the state of Vermont.”

As the dairy industry has changed, it’s become critical for farmers in the state to diversify their operations, and part of Druart’s role has been helping dairy farmers to see the opportunity that adding goats to their farm can bring.

For example, the five-generation, family-run Joneslan Farm in Hyde Park, Vermont, was on the brink of selling, unable to make ends meet. Vermont Creamery worked with these farmers to help transition them from cows to goats, with the first load of animals arriving in December 2020. Druart says they’re positioned to be one of the state’s largest dairy goat farms by the end of this year. “Our hope is to have this story be an example of transition and diversification in the Vermont dairy landscape that can help build a future within our state,” she adds.