The Deliciousness of Vermont Creamery!
Necessity is the mother of invention, right? Well, consider a French chef’s need for fresh goat cheese and the relative positions of Allison Hooper and Bob Reese and the invention of Vermont Creamery. As it goes, Bob was working for the Vermont Department of Agriculture and in charge of putting together a dinner consisting of all Vermont made products. In seeking out Vermont-made fresh goat cheese Bob met Allison, who was milking goats on a small farm after having learned to make cheese in Brittany, France (the French are masters when it comes to goat cheeses). Allison’s cheese was such a success that Vermont Creamery was born that night in 1984.
Since its inception Vermont Creamery has gone on to become one of the leading pioneers in the American artisanal cheese landscape. From it’s humble fresh goat cheese beginnings, the company has grown to produce a variety of fresh and aged goat and cow’s milk products. As Allison and Bob grew their company they held onto their initial values of placing importance on quality, taste, and craftsmanship. In 2014, Vermont Creamery became a certified B Corporation, meaning they are held to high social and environmental performance standards. They’ve also become well known for applying state-of-the-art technology to ensure maximum quality and longevity of their products. Vermont creamery is all about supporting their local community. All of their milk comes from local dairies and they employ over 100 people from the area.
As with many of our producers we choose to work with Vermont Creamery because of their unfailing commitment to quality and taste. Continuing with the influence of French practices the company makes creme fraiche and European style cultured butter from cow’s milk. And believe it or not, they were the first producers of mascarpone in the United States! When you use quality ingredients you can taste the difference immediately and these products are our go-tos in the kitchen. The cultured butter has a great depth of flavor and is slightly sweet (use the unsalted to amp up your pastries), the creme fraiche has a smooth tang that's great for topping soups or making dips, and the mascarpone is super rich and sweet, perfect for summer's fresh fruit.
Stories like Vermont Creamery’s make it easy to support and even easier to enjoy their amazing products--simple goods, for simple pleasures.