FAQs

Our products are free from eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat and gluten.

All milk products contain a small amount of trans fatty acids because it occurs naturally in milk from the cows feed. We do not add any hydrogenated fats to the cheeses which are typically responsible for the high trans fat content of processed foods. All our products contain less than 0.5 grams of trans fatty acid per 100 grams of product. It is considered as 0 grams of trans fat by the FDA regulation.

We don’t add vitamins to our products; however vitamin D is naturally present in the milk. Products such as butter, cheese, yogurt, eggs and fish are the richest sources of vitamin D. Vitamin D is needed for the absorption of calcium and the prevention of osteoporosis.

Our products are not organic. The commercial goats’ milk industry is only as old as our company. It is really in its infancy. Goat management is not an intensive farm enterprise. Goat farmers love their animals and pay a great deal of attention to detail and sustainable farm systems.

Yes.We add a small amount of salt to accentuate the cultured flavor.

Place the butter in the microwave for 5 seconds to make it spreadable.

Our products are sold in many specialty food stores, cheese shops, coops, supermarkets, Whole Foods Markets, Wegmans, and independent retailers. Call us at 800-884-6287 and we will try to locate a retailer near you.

Yes, but only as a last resort. Our products require overnight shipping with ice packs and insulated shipping materials. The shipping is very expensive so we try to locate a retailer for you.

We sell through wholesale distributors who sell to specialty stores and restaurants. This form of distribution assures that our products will stay cold on a refrigerated truck from our creamery to the store or restaurant.

Yes. All of our cows' milk products are certified Kosher by Kof-K.

Yes. Cheese is made from milk with an added bacterial culture. This culture will consume almost all of the lactose in the milk producing a distict flavor. When cheese is produced the culture converts the lactose, or milk sugar, into lactic acid. This is the fermentation process that makes cheese. This is why cheese may be a good source of dairy for people who have difficulty digesting lactose.

All of our cheeses packaged in a cup should be served cold, straight from the refrigerator. For are fresh and aged goat cheeses we recommend leaving them at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.

We use carefully selected strains of lactic cultures that are typical for the styles of cheese that we produce.

We advise you to avoid freezing. Crème Fraîche and Mascarpone will not whip properly and have a grainy texture if they have been frozen. Freezing will not impact the flavor.

Yes. All of our products are pasteurized. In the U.S., by law, all fresh cheeses aged less than 60 days require pasteurization.

Our goats' milk comes from 17 farms in Vermont and New Hampshire as well as a goats' milk cooperative in Ontario, Canada. Our cows' milk and cream comes from St. Albans Cooperative Creamery and Booth Brother's Dairy. Both are located in Vermont.

The farms that we buy milk from feed their goats a diet consisting mostly of dry hay, grain and pasture. Some feed corn silage when they have a fresh local supply.

Yes. The FDA requires that all milk be tested for antibiotics prior to receiving at the creamery. This not only assures public health and saftety, but also that our starter cultures will do their job in the cheesemaking process.

No. We purchase milk and cream that is rBST-free. Suppling farms provide us with an affidavit stating that they do not use growth hormones to boost milk production in their cows. There is no rBST equivalent for goats. Goat farmers do not use growth hormones to boost milk production.

Cultured butter is made in the European-style with pasteurized cream in a churn just like regular butter with one added step. After pasteurization, the cream is fermented by adding a carefully selected bacterial culture. The cream must rest for one day in a vat to allow the culture to produce a complex blend of flavor compounds. This is the source of the flavor difference between cultured butter and sweet cream, or American-style butter. After the fermentation, the cream is churned into butter.

Yes. Cultured butter is regular butter with a bacterial culture added to give it taste. This culture will consume almost all of the lactose that remains in regular butter to produce flavor.

Our butter is only made with cows’ cream.

Our butter can be frozen in its original packaging for up to 4 months.

Once opened, refrigerate butter in its original packaging in the coldest part of the refrigerator, not in the refrigerator door! We recommend slicing from the roll and keeping the remainder of butter in the packaging. This film helps to protect the butter from absorbing odors from other foods in your refrigerator.

Fresh cultured butter should have a delicate cream and nutty flavor and a pale yellow color. Butter quickly picks up off flavors during storage and when exposed to oxygen. Store butter away from foods with strong odors.

To keep the freshness and quality of the butter we do not recommend leaving it over 3 hours at room temperature. If you leave it out longer the flavor and color may be affected. To make it soft, place the needed amount of butter in a dish and microwave for 5 seconds. Or, just take it out of the refrigerator for about ten minutes. This butter softens quickly.

The nice pale yellow comes from the high quality of our cream and varies with the season depending on the diet of the cows. When cows are grazing on grass in a pasture, they are eating a lot of carotene found in the grass.