Saycheese!
tion family owners,” says Rick Godinho, who
recently stepped down as chairman of the
TCCA’s board of directors. “That’s part of the
key to our success: Our company is run by
farmer/owners who take great pride in their
product and reputation.”
The basic recipe for Tillamook’s ched-
dar—its flagship cheese—is still the original
one introduced to area creameries in 1894 by
Canadian Peter McIntosh. In addition, co-op
members still deliver fresh, artificial-
hormone- and antibiotic-free local milk to
the Tillamook plant (there is also an addi-
tional processing facility in eastern Oregon)
every day. From there, it’s processed on-site—
with visitors watching most of the process
from glassed-in viewing galleries.
Tillamook cheddar is made as naturally
as possible, setting it apart from most of its
competition, explains Mark Wustenberg,
Tillamook’s vice president of quality and
member relations. “Instead of fully pasteurizing the milk for the cheese—the mass-mar-ket way to process it—we quickly heat-shock
the milk in a process called thermization,” he
explains. Thermization is a food-safety step
that kills off bad bacteria while preserving the
milk’s beneficial enzymes. Because thermiza-
CONTINUED ON PAGE 46
supplier profile
Tillamook’s naturally aged
success story
TILLAMOOK
By Teri Cettina
MOST VISITORS DRIVE to the northern
Oregon coast town of Tillamook to see one of
two things: the Pacific Ocean or blocks of
cheddar cheese running down conveyer belts
at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.
No joke: Even on weekdays, tourists can
run into a minor traffic jam on Highway 101
as cars wait to enter the parking lot of the
Tillamook County Creamery Association’s
popular factory. More than a million visitors a
year make the drive to the site (about an hour
from Portland, Oregon) to see artisan-style
cheese-making in action during a self-guided
tour with interactive kiosks and viewing win-
dows. Millions more consumers know
Tillamook cheese from its distinctive packages
in grocery stores and Costco warehouses
throughout the country.
Company name: Tillamook County
Creamery Association
President and CEO: Harold Strunk
Farmer/owners: Approximately 110
Employees: 630
Products at Costco: (Selection and
style—slices, blocks, shredded or Pack-It-Pals—varies by region.) Medium, Sharp
and Extra-sharp Cheddar, Swiss, Colby
Jack, Monterey Jack and Pepperjack.
Address: 4185 Hwy. 101 N.,
Tillamook, OR 97141
Contact:
info@Tillamook.com
Website:
www.tillamook.com
Comments about Costco: “We’ve had
several Costco buyers and managers
tour our plant and go out to the farms to
meet our members. They understand the
process of making our product—from
the cow to the consumer’s table. Costco’s
intense focus on selling only the highest-quality, best-value product is a perfect fit
with Tillamook’s own business model.”
