Good Culture Brings Its Viral Cottage Cheese to NYC With Pop-Up and Culinary Collaborators
June 3, 2025 | 6 min to read
Beloved clean-label brand Good Culture is hosting its inaugural pop-up, Culture Counter, in New York City to celebrate the rise of cottage cheese. Scheduled for June 6-7, the event features culinary creators like Esther Choi and Fariyal Abdullahi, offering unique recipes like pancake and ice cream creations that have gone viral. With revenue up 240.7%, this event marks a real-world extension of Good Culture's online popularity.
The Internet’s Favorite Brand Enlists Five Talented Culinary Creators to Showcase Cottage Cheese-Based Recipes
NEW YORK – Beloved clean-label cultured foods brand, Good Culture, is bringing the internet’s favorite protein-packed recipes to life with its first-ever pop-up in NYC, Culture Counter. It will feature recipes and special appearances from culinary creators Esther Choi (Chef/owner of Mökbar & Food Network talent), Fariyal Abdullahi (Executive Chef at Have & Mar & James Beard Award Finalist), Arash Hashemi (@shredhappens, Creator & Cookbook Author), Jake Cohen (NYT Best Selling Cookbook Author), and Katie Zukhovich (@babytamago, Creator) – each showcasing their delicious take on Good Culture’s ridiculously good cottage cheese.
Popping up for two days, Culture Counter is a celebration of all things cottage cheese. The weekend kicks off Friday, June 6 with a sponsored 5K run (starting at 7:30am), followed by a grab-and-go breakfast spread made for protein champs. Then on Saturday, June 7, the Culture Counter tasting experience opens (31 E. 17th Street, New York, NY 10003 from 12pm – 6pm). Inside the vibrant and photo-worthy space, attendees will find five unique food counters featuring viral Good Culture recipes like cottage cheese pancakes, chips, ice cream, and more that have taken over TikTok and Instagram.
“We’ve seen cottage cheese go from a humble fridge staple to a full-blown cultural moment, and we wanted to celebrate that in a way that brings our community together,” said Jesse Merrill, CEO and Co-Founder of Good Culture. “Culture Counter is our way of honoring the creativity we’ve seen across social media, spotlighting amazing culinary talent, and turning the most unexpected cottage cheese creations into a real-life experience.”
Good Culture’s surge in popularity has cemented its spot as the #2 branded cottage cheese, with revenue up 240.7% over the past three years. In that time, sales have soared 70.1% – outpacing category growth by more than 4x in dollars and units. As momentum builds, the brand recognized the need to take the online obsession offline and bring that passion to life in the real world.
“Cottage cheese is such a versatile product and I love coming up with unique ways to incorporate it into different dishes,” said Esther Choi, renowned chef and Food Network star. “I can’t wait to share my Pajeon, a Korean pancake with kimchi and gochujang pulled pork, at Good Culture’s Culture Counter.”
Good Culture is also teaming up with iconic bite-size cupcake brand Baked by Melissa to launch a limited-edition Cottage Cookie Crunch cupcake. Available at all brick-and-mortar stores and online on www.bakedbymelissa.com from Monday, June 9, through Friday, June 13, this partnership will feature Good Culture’s Simply 4% Milkfat Classic Cottage Cheese baked right into the base and topping, topped with vanilla icing, chocolate chip cookie crumbles, and a blue chocolate drizzle.
RSVPs and early arrivals are recommended for this one-day only tasting event. Entrance is not guaranteed and will be based on capacity. For more details, visit goodculture.com/culture-counter and follow along on Instagram @good_culture.
About Good Culture:
Based in Irvine, CA, Good Culture is a clean-label cultured foods brand credited with revolutionizing cottage cheese for the modern age. Founded in 2015 by Jesse Merrill and Anders Eisner, the two recognized the untapped potential of cottage cheese as a superfood, transforming it into a frontrunner of the real food movement. Today, Good Culture makes cottage cheese, sour cream, and cream cheese, all made with milk from cows raised on family farms, with no artificial ingredients, gums, stabilizers, or additives. The brand’s partnerships with 1% for the Planet, Path to Pasture with Dairy Farmers of America (DFA), and B-Corp Certification demonstrate its commitment to higher standards for its workers, communities, and the environment. For more information about Good Culture, please visit www.goodculture.com and follow on Instagram @good_culture.