Where Is Tillamook Cheese From

Cracker Barrel Cheese Is Bold And Versatile

We’ll admit that we were surprised when biting into the first slice off the block of Cracker Barrel Aged Reserved Cheddar. Could this possibly be made by the same Cracker Barrel Old Country Store and restaurants found near interstate exits all across America? It turns out that no, there is no affiliation, and the cheese brand is actually owned by Kraft Foods, which has been producing it since 1954.

Once we cleared that up, it started to make sense that Kraft was saving its higher-end cheeses for its higher-end cheese line. The line of Cracker Barrel cheese bars has about a dozen different flavors, including several cheddars, gouda, asiago, and Swiss. They also produce macaroni and cheese, sliced and shredded cheeses, as well as spreads and snacks, but some of those products were harder for us to find in stores.

The bars are clearly created with the intention of slicing and serving as a cheese course. The Cracker Barrel website even offers cheese pairings for those interested in making their own arrangements. While not the world’s most exclusive cheese, we like that they’re accessible, crowd-friendly, and enjoy the textures and bold flavors of the cheeses. We also appreciate the guidance for pairings for those interested in learning how to incorporate cheese into their dining and entertaining experiences.

Kroger Extra Sharp Cheddar Review

The packaging on the Kroger cheddar doesnt look as nice as the Tillamook. Thats typical for store brand items. Instead of paying for fancy marketing, youre just paying for the cheese.

But does the cheese itself compare? I opened both packages and inspected the contents. The Kroger cheese is a slightly deeper color, and the surface isnt quite as smooth. Both sliced nicely.

As far as the texture goes, the Kroger cheese is a tiny bit softer than the Tillamook. I prefer the firmness of the Tillamook, although I concede that it would not be very significant when inside a burger or shredded.

The Untold Truth Of Tillamook

Known to most consumers as a lovable loaf of orange cheddar, the Tillamook brand has made a name for itself as the great Northwest’s titan of dairy. A national brand from Oregon, this rich cheese with the ship on the label delivers a flavorful history.

From its humble start as a tiny farming cooperative, the Tillamook brand has served tastes for over 100 years, and served them with quality. A company that’s proudly filler-free, packing flavor and texture to the savory limits of the human palate. When lesser dairies take shortcuts on quality, Tillamook doubles-down. That’s been their directive since day one. A directive that’s driven their product to celebrity status in your dairy aisle.

Tillamook’s creamy history tells a story of success from humble beginnings. Beginning in Tillamook County, when a small group of dairy farmers from the dewy valleys of Oregon joined forces in 1909, and soon became a force of their own.

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How Long Will It Take For My Order To Ship And Deliver

All online orders ship via FedEx 2-day shipping. We fulfill orders Monday through Thursday, for delivery Wednesday through Saturday. Once your order ships, you’ll get a shipping notification email with tracking information and delivery date.

Holiday schedule: Please note, our team will not be shipping orders out 12/22-12/26 or 12/29-1/2. Orders placed during these windows will ship the following week.

From Whole Foods Is An Upscale Yet Approachable Cheese Brand For All Diets

The Whole Foods store brand 365 Organic has nearly 100 different cheese options, covering a wide range of cheeses from soft to hard, including blue, fresh goat, and even plant-based cheeses. As one of the first major retailers to enter the plant-based cheese market on such a large scale, the prices are even surprisingly approachable.

The cheese counter at Whole Foods has been a pioneer in the grocery industry for decades, bringing cheeses that otherwise could only be found in specialty shops and fine dining restaurants directly to cheese lovers, at a price, of course. Since then, many grocery stores have followed suit, expanding their cheese selections to include international and local artisan cheeses.

And if you’ve been looking for vegan cheeses to add to your cooking repertoire, the 365 brand also has you covered. According to Mashed writer Molly Harris, the texture and flavor of the 365 vegan cheeses aren’t off-putting and should blend into your cheese-based dishes seamlessly.

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Tillamook Cheese Comes Mostly From Cows Kept In Concrete And Dirt Feedlots Not Green Pastures Lawsuit Says

The Animal Legal Defense Fund filed a lawsuit Monday asking a Portland judge to order the Tillamook County Creamery Association to stop advertising that its Tillamook-brand cheese, ice cream, butter and other dairy products come from cows happily grazing on the rolling green pastures of the Oregon Coast.

The Animal Legal Defense Fund says thats deceptive marketing: More than of the milk for Tillamook-brand products comes from cows on the opposite side of the state — including from the nations largest industrialized dairy factory farm in Boardman, 230 miles away in the desert of eastern Oregon, according to the lawsuit. The Threemile Canyon facility — with 32,000 dairy cows and a total of 70,000 cattle — is comprised of concrete or barren dirt feedlots and robotic carousels that milk the continuously confined animals, according to the suit.

Boardman is flat, arid, and often swelteringly hot — nothing like Tillamook County, the suit states. And the mega-dairy in Boardman is so large that it is visible from space.

Within a month, the Animal Legal Defense Fund plans to amend its lawsuit to ask for $200 in compensation for every Oregonian who has allegedly been misled by Tillamook’s marketing campaign, said Amanda Howell, staff attorney for the fund. Because Tillamook products are nearly ubiquitous across the states grocery stores, that could be hundreds of thousands of Oregon consumers, Howell said.

— Aimee Green

Organic Valley Cheese Is Award

With the larger selection of organic cheeses and dairy products on the market these days, you’ve got more choices than ever when selecting a delicious cheese snack. Since the first cartons of organic milk hit the shelves in grocery stores, the Organic Valley company has expanded to include a full line of dairy products, eggs, cheeses, and an ever-growing collection of meats.

We tasted the Raw Sharp Cheddar Cheese and were immediately impressed with how crisp and authentic it tasted. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise, given that it won the Bronze medal at the Los Angeles International Dairy Competition in both 2012 and 2017. While the cheeses Organic Valley produces are generally the same types of cheese produced by their competitors, we could tell the quality of the cheeses had gone up a notch. With a handful of cheese awards under their belt, it’s clear that Organic Valley is interested in refining the popular cheese market, if not adding a little creativity to it.

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Tillamooks Mild Cheddar Won The 2010 World Cheese Championship

Cheese does not get taken lightly in Wisconsin, a state where cheese is major-league. Cooking a cheese curd wrong could get you ostracized. So for all intents and purposes, if your cheese can win here, it can win anywhere.

And thats what Tillamook did. Having established themselves in the American Northwest as committed to quality, it was only a matter of time before Tillamooks premium product won recognition in Americas Dairyland. In 2010, their mild cheddar obliterated the competition, scoring 99.6 out of 100 points at the World Cheese Championship in Wisconsin. A shot across the bow that rocked the cheese-tasting world.

Not only did Tillamook wrest the championship belt from the cheese-obsessed Midwest, their mild-cheddar variety bested all 59 competitors in the category. Far from a mild showing by a cheese that excelled to just four-tenths of a point shy of perfection.

As A Cooperative Tillamook County Creamery Association Prioritizes Forward

Last year was a monumental one for the world, and a newsworthy one for Tillamook County Creamery Association, too. The Tillamook, Ore.-based cooperative became a Certified B Corporation, donated $4 million dollars to a COVID-19 relief fund and partnered with the American Farmland Trust to help secure farmland for future generations. And it did all of this while increasing its sales from $849.7 million in 2019 to a forecasted $938.6 million in 2020, says Patrick Criteser, president and CEO.

In certain ways, this was just par for the course for 112-year-old Tillamook, as these corporate-citizenship-based decisions were already in its DNA. The cooperative consists of about 80 farmer-owners who live in the Tillamook County area and who value the long-term success of the company over short-term gains.

As farmer-owned and led for over 110 years, we have stakeholders, not shareholders, says Paul Snyder, executive vice president, stewardship.

Criteser agrees.

The aspirations of the cooperative members are for this cooperative to stay strong and be profitable and continue to stay true to its values over coming generations, he explains. So they certainly are interested in quarterly earnings, but that’s not the main thing that they’re interested in.

Long-term planning

We put together a plan approached our board and our members with the idea that it was time for us to move east and to sell products and gain distribution and markets around the U.S., he says.

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Where Can I Buy Tillamook Cheese

Tillamook actually has an online shop on their website where you can purchase their cheese, as well as merchandise. They also sell bundles, which are carefully curated collections of cheese, merchandise, or a combination of both.

That being said, Tillamook products are only available in the United States. They sell their cheese at various grocery stores in the United States, mostly in the Pacific Northwest. They do have a process online to request carrying Tillamook in your store. Their cheese curds, one of their coveted products, can only be found at their creamery and the PDX airport.

Is Tillamook Cheese Gluten Free Cheese

Tillamook cheese states on their website that their cheese is not processed with any major allergens, besides milk, of course. This would mean that their cheese is gluten free. Their dairy is also sourced from farms that commit to not pumping their cows with artificial hormones.

That being said, Tillamook cheese does advise that there is potential for cross contamination due to the fact that they also process ice cream in their facility. The equipment that processes the cheese does not come in contact with those allergens though. Tillamook also says they take as many precautions as possible to avoid cross contamination by testing and cleaning their equipment thoroughly.

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Who Should I Contact If There’s A Problem With My Order

If your order arrived with missing, incorrect, or damaged items, please contact our Consumer Relations team at 1-855-562-3568 or via email through our ‘Contact Us’ form so we can help make it right! The team is available 8am to 5pm Pacific time Monday through Thursday, and 8am to 1pm Friday. We aren’t able to accept returns for a refund at this time, but if you’re not pleased with your cheese , wed love the chance to help make it right. Please feel free to reach out to our team via the channels listed above so we can learn more about your experience. Lastly, please note that we can’t be responsible for damage or loss due to unavailable recipient, incorrect address, or theft. Sorry.

Tillamook Is A Dairy Cooperative Spanning Over 100 Farms

Tillamooks top-shelf curd is the product of the Tillamook County Creamery Association. A dairy cooperative that today is the largest employer in Tillamook County, an economic engine empowering nearly 900 people in the craft of fine dairy.

Years of small-time dairy farming offered decent yields, but it wasnt until local dairy farmers formed a cooperative in 1909, when Tillamook truly entered their stride. The Tillamook County Creamery Associations catalyzing event started simply. The inaugural cooperative welcomed 10 independent dairy farmers. All they had to pay was a $10 entry fee, and from there they combined their resources to change cheese-making history.

Today that co-op belongs to 80 farmer-owners, and has propelled the Tillamook County Creamery Association into a top-50 American cheesemaker. Tillamooks commitment to quality and teamwork also shows up in their long-standing record of integrity, as the cooperative has held a constant commitment to stewardship both to the Tillamook County community and to their customers.

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Cheesy Reasons You Need To Tour The Tillamook Cheese Factory

If you still arent quite sure if you should do the Tillamook Cheese Factory tour, maybe these cheesy reasons will help you decide.

Okay, okay, well stop. Do you still wheely like us?

Seriously, though. The Tillamook Cheese Factory Tour is a great day trip to do with the family for a little bit of fun, some education, and a whole lot of tastiness!

Tillamook Once Toured The Country In Cheese

Peace. Love. Cheese? In the summer of 2010, all three were on offer as the “Love Loaf Tour” hit over 100 U.S. cities in a fleet of cheddar-orange Volkswagen mini buses. Crisscrossing the country in a motorized facsimile of Tillamooks “Baby Loaf” variety of cheddar.

Spreading the message of love through their love of dairy, Tillamook commemorated their 100th anniversary by slinging free samples and coupons to supermarkets and outdoor displays wherever their cheese-loafs-on-wheels roamed. The vivid stunt was a huge success, and led to Tillamook rolling out more evocative and innovative ad campaigns.

As a follow-up, Tillamook launched their “Dairy Done Right” campaign in 2015, where they published a series of scintillating photos of melted cheeses on hot food. Doubling-down on their support of dairy farmers in the messaging of Dairy Done Right. Promoting real food from local farmers, backed by the cheese that tops them.

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Tillamook County Creamery Association

The Tillamook County Creamery Association is a dairycooperative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the “Tillamook” brand name. Its main facility is the Tillamook Creamery located two miles north of the city of Tillamook on U.S. Route 101.

The 48th largest dairy processor in North America, Tillamook posted $654 million in sales in 2015, the trade magazine Dairy Foods reports. TCCA employs nearly 900 people in Oregon and is the largest employer in Tillamook County. The brand is strongest in the West but sells in all 50 states. It routinely wins awards from the American Cheese Society and other groups.

The co-operative includes nearly 100 dairy farms, mostly within Tillamook County. The cooperative markets a number of processed dairy products including cheese, ice cream, butter, sour cream, and yogurt, some of which is manufactured by the cooperative itself, and other products which are produced under licensing agreements with various partner companies. Their most famous product is Tillamook cheese, including the famous Tillamook Cheddar. In March 2010, Tillamook’s Medium Cheddar cheese won the gold medal in the 2010 World Cheese Championship Cheese Contest hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association in Madison, Wisconsin. The cheese scored 99.6 out of 100 points possible, beating 59 other entries.

Kerrygold Is For Stepping Up Your Cheese Game

You may recognize the Kerrygold brand from the butter section at the grocery store those gold and silver foil packages of Irish butter are hard to miss. If you haven’t tasted one of the 10 unique kinds of cheese they offer, there’s no time like the present! The Kerrygold Aged Cheddar is a nice place to start if you’re looking for something familiar. But after that, we’d suggest tasting the Dubliner cheese. A firm cheese that’s got a few salty crystals interspersed throughout and a delicately sweet and nutty cheese, with an almost tropical finish.

The Cashel Blue Farmhouse Cheese is also a wonderful introduction to blue cheese if you’re not sure where to begin. It’s got a gentle tangy taste without the overwhelming moldy or ammonia flavor that scares some people away from blue cheeses. It’s great crumbled on top of a salad, or served on a cheese board for a well-rounded presentation. If you needed a little more encouragement to try this blue cheese, know that it’s been awarded the gold medal at the International Cheese Awards every year since 2009! You’re definitely going to be stepping your cheese game up a notch with Kerrygold.

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Tillamook Provides Intense Cheese Flavors

If you ever find yourself on a road trip through Oregon, we wholeheartedly recommend making a stop at the Tillamook Creamery Visitor’s Center and Production Headquarters. There, you can taste several of the Tillamook cheeses, as well as mac and cheese, cheesy sandwiches, and Tillamook dairy ice cream. After you’re stuffed full of the good stuff, you can catch a glance of the cheese factory floor and get a rare glimpse into how these fantastic cheeses are made.

If you’re nowhere near Oregon, that’s okay too. Tillamook is very likely in your local grocery store already and will taste just as wonderful in your own home. The collection of Tillamook cheeses is cheddar heavy, but also includes your favorites like mozzarella, parmesan, pepper jack, colby, and more. For an extra-special treat, you can even try one of the Tillamook Maker’s Reserve White Cheddars that are sold by the vintage. To help decide which of these thoroughly American cheddars might be your next favorite, check out the Sharpness Scale on the website that provides tasting notes and serving suggestions for those who want to embrace their inner cheese nerd.