In the early days of the colonization of the U.S. West, Oregon was the top producer of cheese in the Northwest and one of the top 10 producers in the country.
Though the state would eventually be bumped off the top 10 list and surpassed in quantity by states like Idaho and Vermont, Oregon continues to punch above its weight class in terms of quality.
Cheesemakers stretch queso Oaxaca by hand at Don Froylan Creamery in Salem, Ore., in February 2025.
Stephani Gordon / OPB
Over the past decade, Oregon producers have brought numerous prestigious cheese awards to the state. Don Froylan in Salem was awarded the best string cheese in the country by the American Cheese Society for two consecutive years.
In 2024, Tillamook’s Maker’s Reserve 2014 Extra Sharp White Cheddar won the “Best Cheddar in the World” award. Southern Oregon’s Rogue Creamery in Central Point produced the first cheese outside of Europe to be named “Best Cheese in the World” in 2019.
Rogue Creamery in Grants Pass, Ore., produces world-class blue cheeses.
Stephani Gordon / OPB
In the U.S,. California, Vermont and Wisconsin are some of the top-producing cheese states and thus encourage a market of small and artisan cheesemakers. Internationally, regions such as Roquefort, France, or Emilia-Romagna, Italy, have centuries of traditions tied to the sense of place and have long been recognized for the quality of their cheese.
How is it that Oregon, with lower quantity than other states and a relatively young cheesemaking culture, continues to produce such nationally and internationally recognized cheeses?
Tillamook Creamery is the largest and most recognizable cheesemaker in Oregon.
Stephani Gordon / OPB
This is partially because the landscape of Oregon is an agricultural dream, something early European settlers recognized.
But it’s also because of dedicated cheesemakers, such as Dave Grossen, the owner and cheesemaker of Helvetia Creamery. Grossen makes traditional Swiss Alpine cheeses following recipes and methods that his Swiss relatives brought to the town of Helvetia, Oregon, when they were among the early white settlers.
“Any good cheese is out there because somebody has the passion and the tenacity to make it happen,” says Chelsea Lowrie, a cheesemonger at Zupan’s Markets. Her mission as a cheesemonger is to “take the classism out of cheese” and encourage people to support small, local cheesemakers.
Rounds of Bergkäse aging at Helvetia Creamery.
Stephani Gordon / OPB
“ I think we all have a responsibility to kind of help keep that history alive,” says Lowrie, “these connections to our neighbors and our land and our heritage, or even just the region that we have adopted that is Oregon.”
Katy Osuna is a food journalist based in Portland, Oregon. She is one of the hosts and producers of the Copper & Heat Radio podcast.
