Blue & Beyond: David Gremmels Shares the Latest from Rogue Creamery

Editor’s note: It seems like Rogue Creamery is always in the news, and the news is usually quite good. Just this week in fact they won the U.S. Dairy Sustainability Award for Outstanding Dairy Processing and Manufacturing. It’s part of an awards program managed by the Innovation Center for U.S. Dairy, which was established under the leadership of dairy farmers and dairy companies.

David Gremmels with cows. Photo courtesy H. Sterling Cross

Rogue Creamery, a great American artisan cheesemaker particularly obsessed with blue cheeses, is rolling out a new line of exact weight, pre-cut wedges of its award-winning blues. We spoke with Rogue President David Gremmels to learn more about the initiative and a few other topics related to the Southern Oregon-based company.

New Wedges

Gremmels says the move to a new line of 4.2 oz. wedges was certainly related to market shifts brought on by the COVID 19 pandemic. "Food service made up 50% of our business and it came to a standstill," Gremmels says. "What rose to the occasion was our exact weight program. We had a lovely line of wedges that was primarily for mail order." Demand from mail order and retail segments rose substantially in the second quarter of 2020, and it was obvious that the existing pre-cut program would not effectively meet the increased pull.

"We had been hand cutting and vacuum sealing and hand labeling, so there were so many steps and hands involved," Gremmels says. "We wanted better throughput and less waste."

The solution involved the purchase, installation and start-up of a new automated packaging line. Gremmels says the Rogue team got the line built and running in less than a year. Since May, Rogue has been offering the new format of favorites like Smokey Blue and Caveman Blue in cases of 6, in hopes that they will appeal to smaller retailers. A 24-piece case will soon be offered as well. The line-up also includes Oregonzola, Crater Lake Blue, and a relatively new cheese named Bluehorn that is soaked in organic red wine from Oregon.

National distributor KeHe Foods is offering all six wedge varieties for sale, as is West Coast distributor Tony’s Fine Foods. Rogue Creamery is working with other regional and national distributors to offer these new wedges to buyers across the country in the coming weeks.

Gremmels says the program could not have been launched if there were any loss of quality compared to whole wheels, and that in trials, the 4.2 oz. size offered the highest level quality. In addition, the efficiency of production allows the new larger pieces to be sold at the same price as the previous 3.5 oz. wedges. They offer a six-month shelf life.

Rogue Cheese Social Club

Another Rogue program that drew increased interest during the pandemic is the Rogue Quarterly Social Club, which began as a series of casual get-togethers at Gremmels' home with Rogue team members and neighbors. Those gatherings and the subsequent mail order program explore logical pairings of Rogue cheeses with accompaniment products including preserves and crackers. "We wanted to share that and create a quarterly club. It became much more of a focus for us during the pandemic," Gremmels says. The shipments include several cheeses and two locally produced cheese accompaniments and one additional “merch” item as well.

Cheese is Love

While it is best known for its award-winning blues, Rogue also produces a line of cheddar cheeses that are very popular in the Pacific Northwest. One of those is a 3-year-aged cheese now called Cheese is Love. The cheese is named for Rogue Creamery’s work with the Oregon Food Bank. The need for cheese contributions increased after Southern Oregon experienced a number of wildfires last Fall, leaving thousands displaced. "Oregon Food Bank suggested we contact our label and packaging suppliers for assistance. To keep it sustainable we need support from the community, so Cheese is Love was born,” Gremmels says.

The program helps offset the creamery’s costs for the donations and allows Rogue Creamery fans to do their part. For each pound of cheese purchased, an equal amount is donated to the food bank campaign.

“It has really been well received,” Gremmels says. “Well over 1,000 if not well over 2,000 pounds of cheese donated by the community. Our corporate friends at Airstream Adventures said they wanted to participate, and they bought a vat of cheese. They are dear friends, so I had to match them. And then we had two vats of cheese to contribute.” A handful of chefs have also joined the initiative and are creating dishes for the pantry using Rogue cheeses.

Bullish on Blue

It’s been more than 18 months since Rogue’s most extraordinary cheese, Rogue River Blue, took the top honors at the World Cheese Awards, the next World Cheese Awards will be held in November in Oviedo, Spain, as part of the Asturias Paraíso Natural Internacional Cheese Festival. Until then, the leaf-wrapped, spirit-soaked Rogue River Blue maintains its title as the World’s Best Cheese. Gremmels says the company is still basking in the afterglow from that award, and coincidentally, or not, consumer interest in artisan blue cheese continues to grow.

“The demand for our cheese, internationally, has grown 12-fold,” he says. “I am awestruck by the interest and demand for Rogue River Blue to be enjoyed in countries from around the world.”

Gremmels notes that in the 20 years since he came to the helm of Rogue Creamery, American cheesemakers coast to coast have introduced or continued to produce many outstanding blues. “The blue cheeses created in the US really reflect the personality of the cheesemakers, and the regions they come from. We have seen some great blues from the Northeast, to the Midwest, and the Mid-Atlantic, and out to the West Coast. They are natural-rinded, or aged in plastic or wax, goat, sheep cow or a blend of milks.” There are great blue cheeses across Europe he says, and now there are remarkable blues in the U.S. as well, and that has led to a greater appreciation of blue cheeses. “There really is a blue cheese out there for everyone,” he says.

A Maturing Partnership

Finally, it has been three years (May 2018) since the announcement that Rogue Creamery had partnered with Savencia Fromage and Dairy. Gremmels says that partnership has been great for both entities. He notes that Rogue has maintained autonomy, that Savencia’s expertise played a significant role in the installation of the exact weight line. Savencia has looked to Rogue for its expertise in organic farming and other aspects of Rogue’s B Corporation certification.

Savencia Fromage and Dairy, formerly Bongrain, is a French food company specializing in the production of cheeses. Brands include Saint Agur Blue, Saint Albray, Etorki, Alouette and Pié d'Angloys.