Grafton Village Cheese Company

Cheesemaking has long been a part of Vermont life. Dairy cows grazing the velvety pastures of the Green Mountain State are a familiar sight, and the milk they produce is one of the state's natural treasures, used to make some of the world's best cheddar cheese. Grafton, Vermont is a likely setting for a world-class cheddar. Cheesemaking traditions in this historic village date from the 19th century. The Grafton Cooperative Cheese Company was founded in 1892 by dairy farmers who gathered together in a cooperative to make their surplus milk into cheese. In the days before refrigeration, there were many such cooperatives in the rural agricultural communities and an abundance of fresh, creamy milk was turned into a food that could be stored for a longer period of time. In 1912, a fire destroyed the original factory. Several decades later, the nonprofit Windham Foundation restored the company in the mid 1960s, and a new era for the town was born. Today, quality and taste are the hallmarks of our company's award-winning, handcrafted cheese. The cheese company is part of the Grafton based Windham Foundation, whose mission is to promote Vermont's rural communities. When you purchase Grafton Village Cheese, you directly support our mission! We have two production plants: our original in Grafton and a new facility in nearby Brattleboro, Vermont. Each has a retail store with viewing windows to watch cheesemaking and to taste the final product. Learn more about visiting us.