Cheesemakers maintain longtime partnership with region’s dairy farmers
Story by Ching Lee • Photos by Fred Greaves
When Ben Gregersen and John Dundon first started making cheese together, their use of old-fashionedmethods and simple ingredients earned thema following at farmersmarkets. Twenty-five years later, the owners of Sierra Nevada Cheese Co. in Glenn County are helping to keep the tradition of dairy farming alive in a region that’s been moving toward tree nuts. Even as they continue to grow their brand and expand their product offerings— outgrowing their name as just a cheese company—Gregersen andDundon have remained loyal to the local farmers who produce the milk. By purchasing from them, Sierra Nevada maintains close ties to its key ingredient, whether it’s cowor goat milk. As the one remaining cheese plant in the county, the company also provides a viable future for area dairies whose milk might otherwise be without a home. “They’re kind of rekindling a little bit of a fire for milk,” said dairy farmer Jake Zuppan, whose family produces cow and goat milk for Sierra Nevada. Perhaps it’s fitting that the company now occupies what was once the Glenn Milk Producers Association creamery in Willows. The farmers cooperative built the plant in 1958 during an era when milk was the region’s second-highest grossing agricultural commodity, after rice. Today, almonds and walnuts take the top spots. Gregersen andDundon purchased the vacant property in 2003 when they neededmore room to store the growing volume of cheese they were making, which by then had begun appearing on store shelves. “After we got out to the retail stores, we grew fast—for us,” Gregersen said.
Sierra Nevada Cheese Co. owners Ben Gregersen, above left, and John Dundon show off some of the cheese and dairy products sold at the company's retail store in Willows.
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