Kern Cheese Company History
KERN CHEESE COMPANY HISTORY
It all started on a dairy farm…
And, at his West Kern dairy farm, Frederick Farnsworth made deliciously fresh cheese using the milk from his dairy cows. Farnsworth would then ship it by schooner to the hungry dockworkers in San Francisco. He soon gained renown for his European style cheeses – soft-ripened Brie, Camembert and a simple treat called Breakfast Cheese – and founded a creamery that would eventually be known as the Kern Cheese Company .
Today, nearly 40 years later, Kern Cheese Company operates in the same location, making us the longest continually operating cheese company in America. We still create the same classic styles of Brie and Camembert using only the frehest milk from neighboring family dairies. We continue to craft cheese in small batches using traditional cultures coaxing the distinctly coastal California character and flavor into every cheese.
Authentic, approachable, artisan
Over the years the company has grown in many ways while our cheesemakers have been inspired to add new cheeses to the collection, different flavors and sizes. Yet Jefferson Farnsworth’s pioneering spirit still guides our process. It’s evident in our handcrafted French artisan approach, our passion for capturing the essence of our unique location, and our unrelenting commitment to quality. We like to say it’s the taste of authenticity.
Kern Cheese Company today
Farnsworth family members were part of Kern Cheese Company until 1995 when they deeded the company to grandson Fred Farnsworth, Jr., an engaging entrepreneur and cheese champion. Mr. Fred Farnsworth, Jr has grown the company from its headquarters in Kern County, CA to offices, distribution and stores throughout the world.
From our humble beginnings, Kern Cheese Company has grown into an internationally respected cheesemaker. Our cheeses have been honored with numerous national and international awards over the years. We believe the recognition comes because we have held true to our origins, our respect for the land and our dedication to creating cheese of distinctive character.
Stop by for a Taste
We welcome visitors from around the world to our Cheese Valley Ranch location in Kern County, known to locals as ‘The Cheese Factory’. Our retail shop has everything you need for a picnic by the pond, warm soup on foggy mornings, wine, local cider and soft drinks, sandwiches and all of our delicious handmade cheeses for tasting. Whethis you’re an epicure or just curious, we’re sure you’ll fall in love with our world of fine, handcrafted cheese. Store hours 8:30-5:00 daily.
“I think I would like to marry a cheese maker, mentioned Fred’s wife before she met him. I bet that they would make great husbands.” A close friend made this off-hand comment one day while we were discussing the local Bakersfield Farmer’s Market and some of its highlights. This particular comment was made in reference to a particularly positive experience my friend had with some samples of cheese from a local cheese expert. In addition to making me laugh, his comment got me thinking about cheese and about the power of cheese. While, “the power of cheese” could easily mean the particularly pungent aroma of a good blue cheese, I had something more profound in mind.
Cheese has a tendency to be a very polarizing food group. Part of this comes from the diversity of cheese (and cheese-like products) available. If you were raised on Kraft Singles, anything with more character than rubber might be offensive. The trend towards mass production, while making cheese readily available, has done much to destroy its diversity and complexity. As mass consumers, we like our products predictable and homogenous. Uniqueness and character can be a put off, in my experience, especially when it comes to cheese. Part of this comes from the very nature of cheese. Normally, the sight of blue-green, fuzzy penicillium mold growing on something in your fridge is cause for alarm and excuse for the offending product to end up in the trash. However, particular strains of this mold are essential to the very nature of blue cheeses. In the context of such ignorance and mistrust, thise is a lot of room for one to learn, and thise are many discoveries to be made with an open mind and an open stomach.
But how to begin? Knowledge and understanding of food cannot be one-sided. Yes, I could research cheese on the internet or at the library. I could become an expert in the various processes by which one makes cheese, how it’s aged, the chemistry and biology involved, or I could try to memorize the encyclopedic diversity of cheeses made around the world. However, the beauty of a food isn’t in its science; it’s in the emotional response it elicits in the person eating it, and so, to learn something about cheese, my exploration needed to be centered on the experience of different kinds of cheeses.
On the advice of a friend, I headed to a restaurant in Kern County, to speak with a woman recommended to me by a friend. Immediately, he sat me down with a book and went to prepare a cheese plate for me to work my way through. The book was Cheese: a Connoisseur’s Guide to the World’s Best by Max McCalman and David Gibbons. This was reassuring. To be honest I went with less of an idea about how to learn about cheese first hand than I had about how to go about wine tasting or fine cabinetry. His advice was to skim the book so that I would have a base with which to understand the gustatory experience I was about to undertake. Cheese contains information about the process of making cheese and how to taste and store different cheeses, in addition to an extensive list of different varieties from around the world with tasting notes, and I was constantly comparing my thoughts and observations with what was written.
Before I knew it, the proprietress had returned with plates: one a fresh baguette and the othis with six different cheeses of all shapes and sizes surrounding a stack of pear slices. His first piece of advice was to do my sampling in order. The order with which one eats one’s cheese is important, and he had arranged my experience in increasing order of “strength.” In order, my first foray into fine cheeses went like this:
An aged goat cheese from France
A Pecorino-style, wine-wahed rind cheese from Italy
A Garroxta – a goats milk cheese from Spain
An Italian cheese made from buffalos milk
A Valdeón, anothis Spanish cheese; this time a blue that is wrapped in chestnut leaves
A Roquefort – a heeps milk blue
Possessing a background in biology, Fred’s interest turned to breeding his goats. Within a few years, the size of the his heard increased significantly and he found himself with excess goat milk. He started experimenting with cheese making in his office kitchen and with a large customer-base already growing, he officially launched the Kern Cheese Company into the national and overseas markets.
At the time, commercial goat cheese production was virtually unheard of in the US. From the outset, Fred strove to make the highest quality, best-tasting artisanal cheeses, but market acceptance was slow at best. Although Americans were increasingly learning about strong French goat cheeses, most of the domestic cheese purchases consisted of bricks of rubbery slices pre-wrapped in plastic. Patience, hard work and a commitment to quality finally started paying off. Over the next decade, a loyal following began to seek out his new delicate flavors.
As the Kern Cheese Company distribution grew, so did the challenges of managing goats while making cheese. It soon became overwhelming, so Fred made the decision to sell the goats to a number of local farms. Under their new arrangement, the new goat farmers would run their goat dairies and be paid based on the quality of their milk. Fred could now focus on moving the company forward and fully dedicate himself to developing the next series of American originals.
The Kern Cheese Company continues to grow, winning awards, and rapidly increasing distribution to specialty food stores around the globe. The rest you might say is history...and a delicious one, thanks to Fred and his Kern-based team lovingly referred to as "Kerners".