Culture Magazine

50 culturecheesemag.com I N N OVAT I O N 202 3 and her sisters' gratitude toward fellow cheesemakers, including Jennifer Bice from Redwood Hill Farm in Sebastopol, and Mary Keehn at Cypress Grove in Humboldt County, who helped them get their start. "Along the way, we discovered there was no blue cheese being produced in California," she says. For nine years the Giacominis focused on Original Blue—despite being told by distributors that they were crazy to build a brand on a single farmstead cheese. But as luck would have it, and as a testament to the quality of the cheese, an introduction to Whole Foods Global Cheese Buyer Cathy Strange resulted in national distribution for the young company that was still selling its milk to a local co-op. Fork, a dining room, and an outdoor herb garden and patio. That same year, Hagen, who had worked in finance in San Francisco for 20 years, came on board full-time as chief marketing officer. It was also the year they would begin to develop new cheeses. Once again, timing was everything. When their longtime cheesemaker was ready to retire, 26-year-old Kuba Hemmerling, who was making Dutch- style cheese at Traders Point Creamery in Indiana, was tapped to take over the important role. Hemmerling made the trek to the west coast along with his now- wife Jennifer Luttrell. Fourteen years later, Hemmerling is the Master Cheesemaker and Luttrell is The Fork's culinary director. "We like to say that we got a two-fer," Basch says with a laugh, who clearly considers the couple (and their 10-year- old son) part of the family. When he was barely a year into his new job, Hemmerling developed a second cheese—the super-versatile, semi-hard "Along the way, we discovered there was no blue cheese being produced in California." ALL IN THE TIMING The Giacominis continued to innovate and grow by equipping their farm with robotic milking technology (which allows the cows to be milked whenever they want to be), incorporating methane-powered renewable energy, and reusing and recycling water. They decreased the size of their Holstein herd to minimize the environmental impact on the land and sold an easement to MALT (Marin Agricultural Land Trust), ensuring the property would be protected in perpetuity. "When this building was completed in 2009, we became much more professional," says Basch, gesturing to the expansive, light-filled facility that includes offices, a retail area, The Lynn Giacomini Stray, left, and Jill Giacomini Basch, taste Toma with their dad, Bob Giacomini. PHOTO: Molly DeCourdreaux

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