Rogue Creamery is an American cheese maker based in Central Point, Oregon founded in 1933. Since 2002, Rogue Creamery has been making artisan cheeses.[1] Founder Tom Vella brought mold, cultures and recipes for Oregon Blue to Central Point from Roquefort, France. Rogue Creamery was the first U.S. cheese maker to export raw-milk cheese to the European Union.[2][3] Their products can be found in other countries including the United Kingdom, Australia and Japan.[4]
Rogue may be the first American creamery to command worldwide respect.[5]
Sustainability
In 2014, Rogue became the first certified B Corporation in Oregon in order to promote renewable energy and waste reduction.[6]
In 2021, the company won the Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing Sustainability award from the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy.[7]
Rogue's Nellie Green Pedal Power Program gives employees a monthly bonus for using more sustainable forms of transportation to get to work.[7] In 2019, employees travelled 11,838 miles using more sustainable forms of transportation.[7]
Thirty percent of the energy used to power the cheese plant comes from solar panels.[7]
Awards
In their first competition under new owner David Gremmels, Rogue's Rogue River Blue won the 2003 World Cheese Award for best blue cheese.[2][8]
Rogue's Rogue River Blue won best blue cheese in the world at the 2012 World Cheese Awards and two medals out of 2,781 cheeses from around the world.[9]
Rogue Creamery won four medals—two silver and two bronze—at the 2013 World Cheese Awards, the world’s largest cheese event and the most respected competition of its type in the world. There were more than 2,700 cheeses from 34 countries with 250 judges.[10]
Rogue won again in 2014 with one bronze medal and one super gold medal, making it one of the top 60 cheese in the world.[11]
In 2019, the company's Rogue River Blue cheese became the first American-made cheese to be named the World Champion at the World Cheese Awards in Bergamo, Italy.[7]
In June 2021, Rogue Creamery won the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy's Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing Sustainability Award.[6]
References
^"Cheese, Glorious Cheese: 5 Great US Creameries". ABC News. Retrieved December 15, 2015. Founded during World War II by Italian immigrant—and American artisan cheese Godfather—Gaetano Vella, this creamery was sold to Cary Bryant in 2002," said O'Neill. "The next year, with the help of his business partner David Gremmels, they received a World Cheese Award for Best Blue cheese.
^ ab Sarah Lemon (March 19, 2008). "Rogue Creamery exports its raw-milk cheeses to the European Union". Mail Tribune. Retrieved December 15, 2015. Capturing the distinction as maker of the world's best blue cheese — Rogue River Blue — at the 2003 World Cheese Awards, as well as the first American cheese maker to be featured at 2007's prestigious Cheese Festival in Bra, Italy, didn't hurt either. ... Increasing production poised the creamery to ship across the pond as soon as they received the go-ahead. In December, Whole Foods UK and Neal's Yard Dairy, both in London, received batches of the creamery's blue cheese.
^ Cole Dawson (June 19, 2012). Cheese It! Start making cheese at home today. i5 Publishing. p. 6. ISBN978-1620080092. Processed cheeses defined the American dairy case for decades. Until 2003. Actually, the revolution in cheese crafting began with experiments by California goat farmers in the 1980s, but in 2003 Rogue Creamery of Oregon stole the honors at the World Cheese Awards in London with its Rogue River Blue. That's London—home to Stilton and English Cheddar. It was the beginning of a burgeoning respect for America's artisan cheese makers.
