Allison Hooper and Bob Reese founded Vermont Creamery in 1984 after a chance meeting led to an unexpected partnership. Allison had learned cheesemaking during a year abroad in Brittany, France, and Bob, who had just finished his MBA, was working with Vermont farmers at the state's agriculture agency. When Bob asked Allison to make goat cheese for a restaurateur event, the chefs who tasted it wanted more.
They started small, selling goat cheese from a converted milk house and sharing dut
Allison Hooper and Bob Reese founded Vermont Creamery in 1984 after a chance meeting led to an unexpected partnership. Allison had learned cheesemaking during a year abroad in Brittany, France, and Bob, who had just finished his MBA, was working with Vermont farmers at the state's agriculture agency. When Bob asked Allison to make goat cheese for a restaurateur event, the chefs who tasted it wanted more.
They started small, selling goat cheese from a converted milk house and sharing duties at farmers' markets. By 1988, they'd opened a creamery in Websterville with four employees and began introducing French-style cheeses like chèvre and crème fraiche to distributors in the United States. In 1991, Vermont Creamery became the first American producer of fresh mascarpone, and in 1998, after spotting a butter churn on the side of the road, they became the first in the U.S. to make French-style cultured butter. The company grew steadily, expanding its line of aged goat cheeses and partnering with local goat farms, eventually sourcing from 19 farms across Vermont. Allison and Bob retired in 2017, leaving behind a certified B Corporation that now employs over 100 people and powers its plant through renewable energy sourced from Vermont dairy farms.
