This Sustainable Creamery is Known for More Than Just Cheese

Known for its award-winning cheeses and clear mission – “People dedicated to sustainability, service and the art and tradition of creating the world’s finest handmade cheese.” - Rogue Creamery was recently named the Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing Sustainability Award winner presented by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.

Based in Central Point, Ore., Rogue Creamery was awarded for its high standards as the first American cheesemaker to be named Grand Champion at the World Cheese Awards in October 2019. However, what makes owner David Gremmels stand above the rest goes beyond his company's cheesemaking practices. Rogue Creamery has a culture that is based around doing the right thing which has allowed the creamery to rise to the top.

Opening its doors in southern Oregon in 1933, Rogue Creamery started off small. Since then, the little creamery has grown by leaps and bounds and today, Rogue Creamery cheese can be found at cheese counters and restaurants nationwide. They are also in many countries, including the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia and Japan.

In 2014, Rogue Creamery was Oregon’s first certified B Corporation. They have led the way in renewable energy and waste reduction, inspiring other like-minded businesses to follow suit and pursue the difficult certification process.

In 2020, when wildfires caused devastation and evacuations persisted in southern Oregon, Rogue Creamery created a campaign where they donated thousands of pounds of cheese to local food banks. With their roots running deep in southern Oregon, Rogue Creamery believes it is their responsibility to be there for their neighbors when times are hard. They feel doing so builds a stronger and more resilient community.

“When the Almeda Fire destroyed thousands of nearby homes last fall – including four of our team members’ – we knew we had a responsibility to help however we could,” Rogue Creamery owner David Gremmels says. “By donating cheese to area food banks since the fire, we’ve been able to help alleviate the need for nutritious sustenance among families who were displaced. We still have a long road ahead, and hundreds are still without permanent housing, so we’re continuing our ‘Cheese is Love’ cheese donation campaign indefinitely, so long as there is a need.”

The U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award recognizes exceptional farms, businesses and partnerships for their socially responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound practices and technologies that have a broad and positive impact.

The CEO of the Innovation Center, Barbara O’Brien, recently said in a press release, “Our 2021 winners put U.S. dairy’s great diversity on full display with farms and businesses of all sizes, from coast to coast, showing how dairy is an environmental solution.”

The U.S. dairy awards are judged by an independent panel of dairy and conservation experts. A formal celebration of the winners, including Rogue Creamery, will be held in conjunction with the Dairy Sustainability Alliance fall meetings in Las Vegas in November. For more information about the industry’s sustainability work visit www.usdairy.com.