It seems that making beer and making cheese are two very different things. In the fall of 2012, two friends who routinely made beer together tried to make cheese for the first time. Amusingly, their first attempt was not a success—the result didn’t taste like cheese at all. Unfazed and ready to try again, the result this time was a tasty cheddar. With the encouragement of friends and family taste testers – and the addition of another friend, a dairy expert, to the team—the entrepreneurial trio founded CannonBelles Cheese in Cannon Falls, Minnesota.
With partners Deeann Lufkin, Kathy Hupf and Jackie Ohmann investing in formal cheese-making education, taking field trips to other cheese makers and expanding operations, the business has aged like a fine cheese ever since.