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Our Story

It’s sunrise at Volbeda Farms. The creek runs cold and clear in the countryside surrounding Salem, Oregon. Rod & Melissa Volbeda’s jersey cows are enjoying a breakfast of home-grown, fresh forage. Their milk is the prime ingredient for the award-winning line of Willamette Valley Cheese Company brand Gouda, Havarti, Jack, Fontina, Mozzarella and other farmstead cheeses.
Some are updated with subtle herbs and spices. Others represent classic European recipes Rod learned as an apprentice with Dutch cheese masters in Holland.  All are buttery smooth, mildly fragrant and all-natural. They are enticing alone; prepared for discerning palettes. Their depth and intensity are heightened by hearty red wines and crisp, refreshing whites. The specialty cheeses of Willamette Valley Cheese Company consistently exceed expectations.  
 
Treating the herd well ensures the finest cheese ingredient: top-quality milk with high-butter fat and extra protein. Time-honored recipes, innovative techniques and imaginative flavors are balanced by Rod Volbeda’s dedication to artisan cheese making. “Cows and dairy are a family tradition,” says Rod, a second generation craftsman with a degree in food science from Oregon State University.

Rod spent more than a decade perfecting cheese recipes and growing his herd of jersey cows. Only after careful consideration of every aspect related to the cheese making process did he believe the timing right to launch Willamette Valley Cheese Company. Honors and awards for the company’s 100% Jersey milk farmstead cheeses soon followed. Health-conscious consumers seeking fresh, natural products began lining up at specialty stores and growers markets for their cheeses.
 
The Volbedas know their customers care about where their foods come from.
Raw milk produced at Volbeda Farms goes directly from the milking parlor to a thoroughly modern cheese making facility. Pasteurization takes place in an on-site vat with no bumpy truck ride or lengthy trip through pressurized tubes. The Volbedas believe it makes more sense to create and age their cheeses on the same farm where their trademark Jersey milk is produced.
 
The Volbeda’s philosophical approach to farming includes the practice of environmental sustainability. They fertilize their pastures and crops with nutrient-rich compost and never use herbicides or pesticides. Their cows are not treated with hormones or antibiotics. The surrounding pastures and production plant at Willamette Valley Cheese Company are certified organic.
 
Their cheese making operation focuses on quality, not quantity. That may be old-fashioned, but the Volbeda’s care about their customers and never rush to market with products that don’t meet their stringent standards for freshness and flavor.
 
Loyal customers appreciate and savor the flavorfully soft and creamy hand-crafted cheeses created by the Volbedas – part of their dairy family’s heritage since 1962.
 
Rich western soil and verdant fields provide pasture for the happiest cows in the valley. Willamette Valley Cheese Company guarantees you’ll find their products distinctively fresh, smooth and uniquely flavorful.
 
Pamper your palate. Explore the textures and tastes derived from the fine art of hand-crafted, slow-made, all-Jersey cow milk farmstead cheeses. Willamette Valley Cheese Company’s offerings are from the Volbeda family to you and yours. Natural cheese just doesn’t get any better than this.                                     
 
Willamette Valley Cheese Company
 
All-Natural & Hand-Crafted Cheeses
Raw or Pasteurized Jersey Milk 
No Herbicides, Pesticides or Commercial Fertilizers
No Product Additives, Preservatives or Hormones
Certified Organic Pastures & Production Facilities