Meet California Winner Nicasio Valley Cheese Company
Posted on Thursday, November 3rd, 2011 in Cheese by Emily Portman
When it comes to dairy, the LaFranchi family has quite an impressive background. Stretching back to the arrival of Rick LaFranchi’s great grandfather in 1856, the LaFranchi family history tells the story of years of very successful dairy operations. However, it wasn’t until a family trip back to the homeland, Switzerland, in 1973 that the idea of making cheese first took hold. “Wouldn’t it be great to make these cheeses at home?” joked Rick’s dad on that first trip. As the dairy industry became more challenging, cheese making began to present itself as a more viable option, and a little over 30 years later, the LaFranchi family found a liason, Maurizio Lorenzetti, in Switzerland who was ready to pass on the craft to a few willing students.
After two days of playing phone tag, I finally catch up with Rick LaFranchi while he’s in the car, driving through the North Bay on his way to make a cheese delivery. “One of our biggest challenges so far has been the number of hats we’ve all been wearing since we started. We’ve been doing all the farmers markets, selling, and distribution ourselves so that, even though I’m in sales and marketing, today I’m on my way to make a cheese delivery. I think we’d really like to get to the point of having a finely tuned organization, with more distinct roles.”
That being said, the demanding workload hasn’t seemed to deter the Nicasio Valley Cheese Company, who has already won 4 awards in their short stint (less than two years!) as cheese makers. For Rick and his siblings, realizing their father’s dream of making cheese was a step in the right direction.
Setting up shop in Nicasio, located in the North Bay, seems to have been a good decision as well. “West Marin was the original milk town for San Francisco. The climate, terrain, and abundance of natural grasses in Marin have always been conducive to the establishment of productive and sustainable dairies,” and cheese makers seem to have taken the hint. A few years back a journalist even remarked, in regards to this budding craft industry, that, “The North Bay is to artisan cheese what Napa Valley is to wine.”
Winning a Good Food Award, for their Nicasio Square, marked a turning point for the Nicasio Valley Cheese Company. “Since it was our first award, it really helped to give us credibility within the cheese world. Especially within the North Bay, the recognition meant a lot for those who are concerned with the principles espoused by the awards.” Over this past year, Nicasio has seen sales increase by 50-75%, prompting them to expand their production capabilities through the acquisition of both more equipment and increased staff.
However, the recent publicity hasn’t gone to their heads. Rather than get all mixed up in new projects, Nicasio is focusing on perfecting their current products (“the aging process is a whole other science”), and promoting the versatility of their cheeses with other foods. When asked about the best recipe paired with a Nicasio cheese, Rick was quick to answer- “foggy morning, in place of mozzarella, in a caprese salad. Toss in some heirloom tomatoes, basil, and cracked black pepper, and the combination is unbeatable.“
