Point Reyes, CA – Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company is growing! The family-owned, artisan cheese producer began construction today on a production and distribution facility at 454 Payran Street in Petaluma. This new location in Sonoma County is 22 miles east of the company’s headquarters in Point Reyes and will house a second creamery and aging warehouse as well as the company’s distribution center. This is Point Reyes Farmstead’s first expansion away from the Marin County dairy farm the family has owned since 1959.
“We are quickly reaching production capacity on the farm and want the ability to respond to increasing demand for our products in the marketplace. My sisters and I thought long and hard about if and how we would grow the company,” says Lynn Giacomini Stray, Co-Owner and COO.
The new Petaluma creamery will be a production and aging facility for the company’s pasteurized cheeses: Fresh Mozzarella, Toma, Bay Blue and Gouda. Original Blue, the brand’s flagship, raw milk cheese, will continue to be made on the farm in Point Reyes. Packaging and distribution of the full product line will move to the Petaluma location.
Bob Giacomini, company Founder, added “My grandfather, Tobias Giacomini, came from Italy to this country over a 100 years ago and raised seven children on his chicken farm, not far from our new location. Expanding our company to Petaluma brings our family story full circle, back to where it all started.”
“The move to Petaluma allows us to increase both the volume and variety of cheeses we produce, be more accessible to our network of distributor partners and to attract employees to a more convenient, suburban location, right along the Hwy 101 corridor,” says Diana Giacomini Hagan, Co-Owner and CFO.
The new Petaluma property, purchased by the company in July 2016, is located at 454 Payran Street (formerly Morris Beverage Distributing). Construction is estimated to take six months and was designed by vRA Architects of Petaluma and E.A. Bonelli & Associates of Oakland. The project is being managed by Harris Construction of Fresno. Point Reyes Farmstead hopes to be making cheese and distributing its complete product line from the new location by the end of the year.
About Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company
In 1959 Bob and Dean Giacomini established their successful dairy farm along Highway 1, just north of Point Reyes Station. In 2000, together with their daughters, Karen, Diana, Lynn and Jill, the family began making cheese on the farm with milk from their own herd of Holsteins. In 2010, the family opened The Fork, a culinary and educational center, offering farm-to-table educational experiences for trade and consumer customers. Diana, Lynn and Jill now own and run the company that is recognized nationally as an award-winning producer of hand-crafted, artisan cheese. The Point Reyes Farmstead product line is available at independent cheese shops and specialty grocers, at The Fork, local-area farmers’ markets and online at www.pointreyescheese.com.
Source: Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company