Original Herkimer Cheese is a third-generation family-owned and operated maker of artisan cheeses, founded in 1949 by Sheldon and Norma Basloe. The company carries on Herkimer County’s longstanding cheddar tradition and says aged New York State cheddar has always been its specialty. It produces cheese in small batches and hand-wraps its cheese balls and logs.
Golden Age CheeseGolden Age Cheese is a family-operated Woodhull, New York cheese manufacturer making natural cheeses by hand, from fresh mozzarella and curds to cheddars aged as long as 18 years. Founded by Lawrence and Angela Hickey in 1983, the second-generation Hickey family still uses the same techniques and recipes, with local rBST-free milk and vegetable or microbial rennet. What began at roughly 300 pounds a week has grown more than one hundredfold while retaining its small-town, hands-on roots.WOODHULL, NY
Four Fat FowlA family of cheese lovers, Four Fat Fowl grew from Sunday dinner-table dreams into a Stephentown, New York, creamery founded in 2013. The Bridgham family brings more than 30 years of combined specialty-cheese experience to locally sourced, handcrafted work, led by master cheesemaker Willy Bridgham’s 25 years in artisanal cheesemaking. Its award-winning St. Stephen reflects the Hudson Valley through milk from nearby Dutch Hollow Farm.STEPHENTOWN, NY
Calkins CreameryAt Highland Farm in Honesdale, Calkins Creamery turns milk from its own registered Holstein herd into small-batch artisan cheese, including raw-milk wheels aged in a former underground wine cave. The creamery is part of a sixth-generation family farm established in 1841, with cheesemaker and owner Emily Montgomery carrying the farm’s tradition into products such as its award-winning Noble Road Brie and distinctive Vampire Slayer. Its cheeses have earned recognition from the American Cheese Society, the Pennsylvania Farm Show, and the World Championship Cheese Contest.HONESDALE, PA
Bunker Hill CheeseBunker Hill Cheese makes artisan cheeses in Ohio’s Amish country, carrying forward a cheesemaking tradition established at the company in 1935. Its history includes Swiss-trained master cheesemaker John (Hans) Dauwalder, who came to the United States in the 1920s, and a family-owned era in which the business became a wholesale manufacturer serving clients across North America. Ownership transitioned in 2024, and the current team says it is continuing the brand’s cheesemaking traditions.MILLERSBURG, OH