The Man Behind The Cheese

Jeff was raised in a family of third-generation dairy farmers on the family farm located just north of Faribault.  His first stint in cheese-making happened in sixth grade when he concocted an acid set cheese for a science project, but it wasn’t until he returned home from college seeking employment that he would be greeted with the cheese world once again.  As fate would have it, Treasure Cave, the company who possessed the caves site at the time, hired Jeff as a General Laborer.  He began the day after Christmas in 1979.  It was here where Jeff really got “hooked” on the quality aspect of cheese-making, thanks in part to a QA manager who taught him the ins and outs of data-driven cheese-making while still respecting the art behind the process.

Jeff’s knowledge of cheese grew and blossomed during this time until the caves came to a close in 1991 by the company.  After a 10 year hiatus where Jeff pursued other career avenues, the caves called him back in 2001 when they were reopened and incorporated into Faribault Dairy Company, now known as the Caves of Faribault.

Jeff brings to the table a Biology degree from St. John’s University and several certifications in Total Quality Management and Statistical Process Control.  He has held an active Wisconsin Cheesemaker license since the early 1980s.  He is a member of the Wisconsin Cheesemakers Association Technology Committee, the American Cheese Society and the Midwest Dairy Foods Research Council. He was inducted into the Guilde Internationale des Fromagers in 2008.

Jeff is driven to help others in their appreciation of great American crafted cheese.  When he’s not crafting cheese, he enjoys year-round outdoor recreational activities and tending to his small acreage Certified Organic farm that grows annual crops.  He is passionate in his faith and believes in living an authentic Christian life of integrity and growth.