Blue Cheese, Green Cheese: How Rogue Creamery is redefining what it means to be artisan cheese
(Full disclosure: I worked for Rogue Creamery as a Farmers Market Sales Associate for the summer of 2010. I have not worked for them in nearly 5 years.)
Before the ink was dry on my hiring paperwork, Rogue Creamery whizzed me down to Central Point to meet the cows, the place and the people that make their cheese some of the best in the world. It was the summer of 2010, and their theory was that I could be a more effective sales person if I knew the story behind the cheese (they were right). My tour of the cheese making facilities and pastures included highlights about how they were lowering the energy requirements for making their cheese. They may be “just” cheesemakers, but they have the souls of environmental engineers.
(Warning: humble brag) I think I was pretty good at selling Rogue Creamery’s products. I had a strategy, and it involved emotionally connecting people to the cheese. Flavors evoke emotions, you see. Rogue Creamery is most famous for their award-winning blue cheese lineup (but their cheddars are delicious too). As you can imagine, blue cheese can illicit some strong reactions (there is a lot of bad blue cheese out there). But if you paint a picture for the customer—a family summer bbq with award-winning smokey blue cheese, caramelized onions and bacon on juicy grass-fed burgers for example—people mentally connect to the cheese, and they bite.
But to be honest, selling this cheese wasn’t very challenging. The story of Rogue Creamery sold itself; I was just a messenger. Beyond being hand-made, beyond the numerous international awards, beyond the balanced terroir of Jackson County—is a heart. And that heart beats for Oregon.
When I shared the sustainability measures of Rogue Creamery with customers, if they were already leaning toward taking cheese home with them, this sealed the deal. Not only would this cheese change your meal, it would make Oregon a better place, too.
Now Rogue Creamery has joined 400 other Oregon businesses in signing the Oregon Buisiness Climate Declaration, proving once again that great cheese doesn’t have to sacrifice our environment. The people at Rogue Creamery are visionaries. Their cheese and their actions prove it.
Enjoy this clip of Francis Plowman, Director of Marketing, discussing their recent signing of the Oregon Buisiness Climate Declaration.
Did you know that our great state of Oregon is home to many artisan creameries? Learn more about them here!
4 Reasons to Pledge Your YES Vote for Rogue Valley Transit
0
Our Critical Climate: Reflections from the Rogue Basin Climate Summit
0
Guest blog: Rogue Basin Climate Summit, Oct. 13 & 14
0