A year ago, it would have been hard to believe that a man with no experience making cheese, little equipment, and the remnants of a pizza parlor for a manufacturing site could sustain a profitable cheese business. Oh and don’t forget, this was during the biggest recession since the Great Depression.  Keith Adams, father, former bagel-business owner, and entrepreneur, found himself at a personal crossroads in 2007 and got the idea to start making cheese. With the help of a few friends who provided the initial capital, and some advice from a mentor in the field, he began to follow his dream, and now, just a year after he started producing, he hasn’t looked back.

His Alemar Cheese Company in Mankato represents the best of local food production: quality, sustainability, and community. Responsible for the entire production, marketing, and delivery process, Adams has been producing cheese since last April, the height of the economic downturn. Now, the company is flourishing thanks to an innovative business strategy and strong community support.

Named after his two daughters, Alexandra and Mariel, Alemar Cheese Company produces “Bent River” cheese, which Adams describes as “soft-ripened artisan cheese” made in the style of Camembert. The name is inspired by a sharp bend in the Minnesota River located close to the production site in Mankato, reminding us of the cheese’s local origin. This locale – close enough to the Twin Cities to provide easy access to markets but far enough away to keep costs down – allows Adams to produce cheese two days a week, which provides time for deliveries to local grocery stores and restaurants. These partnerships with local vendors are an important link to customers and have proved instrumental to his success. Alemar supplies cheese to several grocery stores, including the Lunds & Byerly’s stores and the Wedge Co-Op in Minneapolis. In addition, Metro-area restaurants committed to buying local, such as Lucia’s, Vincent, and Restaurant Alma, have started including Bent River on their menus.

His recent partnership with Cedar Summit Farm, a well-known organic dairy in New Prague, also proved valuable in raising his profile.  The partnership lends customer loyalty to the Alemar brand and is also crucial to the high-quality nature of the cheese itself.  As Adams explained, the quality of the milk used in the cheese-making process is key; the better the milk, the better the cheese.

Adams hopes to add one new cheese per year to the Alemar collection for the next four or five years, and would like to “grow organically” to maintain the small-batch, small-operation model. Alemar not only provides cheese lovers with a delectable and high-quality new cheese choice, but also supports the local economy and fosters community. Instead of profits going out of state to large corporate-owned companies, Alemar supports local actors committed to sustainable agriculture (see this University of Minnesota study, which describes why local agriculture does more to build wealth for the regional economy). With continuing success, Alemar may even provide a few more local jobs. Keith Adams has made an important choice to be part of the local, sustainable, and high quality food movement in Minnesota. It’s time for more Minnesotans to do their part by making the smart choice to buy local; their taste buds won’t be disappointed.

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Tags: Alemar Cheese Company, Buy Local, Eat Local, Economic Growth, Jobs & the Economy, Keith Adams, Local Food, Organic Farming, recession, Slow Food, Sustainable Agriculture

This entry was posted on Tuesday, June 8th, 2010 at 4:44 pm and is filed under Jobs & the Economy, environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.