After what seems like months of rain, it’s an unseasonably warm day in February when I make the hour-long drive north to Point Reyes Station to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Cowgirl Creamery. Everyone in attendance is in good spirits — and not just because of the beautiful weather.
Today’s party is hosted at Cowgirl Creamery’s Barn on 4th Street, which is the heart of the team’s distribution arm, Tomales Bay Foods and home to the original creamery, cheese shop and takeout deli, Cowgirl Cantina. Sue Conley and Peg Smith, cofounders of Cowgirl Creamery, are standing amid a sea of cowboy boots, hay bales and, of course, cheese. Loads of cheese.
In the 40 years since these two cowgirls arrived in California from Washington, DC (by way of the University of Tennessee), California’s artisan cheese industry has nearly quadrupled in size; most of this growth is because of Sue and Peg.
The women of the hour keep a low profile while congratulatory messages fly back and forth, glasses clink and smiles abound. For everyone in attendance, today is about celebrating not only Cowgirl’s two decades in the cheese business but also the artisan cheese community Peg and Sue have promoted, grown and built.
In the 40 years since these two cowgirls arrived in California from Washington, DC (by way of the University of Tennessee), California’s artisan cheese industry has nearly quadrupled in size; most of this growth is because of Sue and Peg. “They knew the success of other cheese makers in the area would be helpful for everyone,” says Michael Zilber, who started as a Point Reyes cheesemonger 12 years ago and is now the company’s marketing and mail-order manager. “They didn’t see [others] as competition.”
The California Artisan Cheese Guild, of which the women are members, and fellow artisan cheese makers, like Nicasio Valley Cheese’s Rick Lafranchi or Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company’s Lynn Giacomini, have Sue and Peg to thank for their success.“Without the supportive culture that Peg and Sue fostered, California’s artisan-cheese industry wouldn’t be where it is today,” says Lynn, who owns and operates Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company along with her family.
Twenty years ago, this city’s landscape looked very different. Many of the retail businesses were boarded or abandoned, and with the exception of outdoor enthusiasts, few made the trek to Point Reyes National Seashore. When Peg and Sue arrived in the late ’80s, they helped transform this sleepy, three-street town into a destination. They brought not just Cowgirl Creamery but also the industry itself into the spotlight. “They were such proponents of the more of us here [in Point Reyes] who are making cheese, the better it’ll be for creating a destination,” adds Lynn.
Both had built reputations in the Bay Area food industry years prior — Peg with Chez Panisse and Sue at Bette’s Oceanview Diner — though their stellar résumés weren’t enough to impress the bank when securing funds. After all, Peg and Sue were new entrepreneurs, new to the agriculture business and new to cheese making. As a result, it took three years to get the right permits and loans, and in addition to obtaining a private loan to finally break ground, Sue sold her first Point Reyes home to keep the business afloat during their first year. Even during that year, they were champions of the little-known cheese community.
Despite the obstacles it took to scrap together funds during those first few years, Peg and Sue remained dedicated to fostering the growth of the artisan-cheese industry. That dedication manifested in the form of a UC Extension course on cheese making that they taught and hosted that first year, even while they were still scraping together the funds to keep the business going. That’s where they met the Giacomini family, third-generation dairy farmers who were inspired to make the transition from a conventional dairy to a cheese-making business. Just a few years after that class in Toby’s renovated hay barn, the Giacomini family introduced the Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company Original Blue.
Though they didn’t set out to lead Marin’s second wave of cheese makers, they became true pioneers of the artisan-cheese evolution anyway, following the trail paved by Laura Chenel and Mary Keehn of Cypress Grove. They are, as Rick tells it, “the matriarchs behind California’s artisan-cheese movement.”
Peg and Sue picked up their organic philosophies during a bicentennial road in 1976 trip that initially brought them out West. These beliefs never wavered despite most people’s unfamiliarity with organic products in the ’90s. Few people took organic dairy farmers, like Straus Family Creamery, seriously. “They were dedicated to organic, so they had to convince people to pay more so they could pay the farmers more,” says another organic pioneer, Alice Waters, owner and founder of Chez Panisse, where Peg worked as the café chef for 17 years.
“They looked at the industry and themselves as one piece of the puzzle, and started doing the right thing before it was fashionable to do the right thing,” says Nora Weiser, executive director of the American Cheese Society, where Peg is currently serving her final term as a member of the board.
It’s not easy to get Sue to pinpoint the reasons for Cowgirl Creamery’s continued acclaim — instead, she likens Cowgirl’s accolades to partners like Straus, whom she calls the “real trailblazers,” for sticking to organic dairy. She also mentions current employees like Maricella Aguilar, the first-ever hire at Cowgirl Creamery. “[Peg and Sue] symbolize the spirit of collaboration that is so unique in today’s very competitive artisan-cheese market,” says Lynne Devereux of the California Artisan Cheese Guild.
Peg and Sue’s commitment to fostering a harmonious, encouraging environment for the next wave of dairy farmers and cheese makers in Marin County has kept them in business. “[Sue] is one of the most loved persons, and I think as a businessperson, that’s a huge part of her success,” Steven Siegelman tells me. Siegelman cooked alongside Sue at Bette’s and coauthored The Pancake Cookbook: Specialties from Bette’s Oceanview Diner in 2003 along with the Berkeley restaurant’s matriarch, Bette Kroening. “She attracts good people, and they’re attracted to her and her vision. They want to help her succeed, and succeed with her.”
As Alice Waters tells me, “They’re two strong, determined women. They’re not out there being superstar chefs … they came to [the business] for the right reasons.”
Specifically, the “right reasons” include building a strong community; that’s ubiquitous in the Barn. Though these artisan-cheese makers compete for a place on the table, Peg and Sue have made it abundantly clear that there’s room on that cheese plate for everyone — particularly as they continue to distribute some of the best cheese through Tomales Bay Foods. They can’t make room for every single artisan-cheese company in the nation (originality is key here, Sue tells me), but they do everything in their capacity to promote growth. “Part of our mission is to support other cheese makers, especially small start-ups,” says Sue. “Tomales Bay Foods provides retail exposure here [at the Point Reyes cheese shop] but also access to about 700 restaurateurs and retailers in the Bay Area.”
Even with the praise from fellow cheese makers, the awards and accolades, and an organic movement that’s risen to the center of many people’s dinner plates, Sue and Peg aren’t slowing down.
“How do you retire?” asks Sue. “I don’t think Peggy and I want to retire, but we want to be able to step back. We don’t want to bring people in who don’t share our philosophies or work ethic, or dedication to the cheese makers and farmers.”
Those people shouldn’t be difficult to find — a look around at this 20th-anniversary celebration shows that they’re everywhere.
