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Years ago, every town had a creamery that featured cheese made from fresh local milk. Residents could visit the creamery and enjoy its products while developing a loyalty and appreciation for the locally-made products.
When large national companies infiltrated the cheese industry, many local creameries couldn't compete and went out of business. Tim Welsh and Pat Ford both had fond memories of their local creameries and wanted to bring them back. After studying finance and sales and spending years in software and land development, the pair decided to do something different: open their own cheesemaking company.
Without any background in dairies or microbiology, Tim and Pat studied up on artisan cheese. Utah State University helped the aspiring cheesemakers learn almost everything they needed to know. They developed a business plan, found a location at the mouth of Weber Canyon and opened Beehive Cheese in 2005.
Many of the company's cheese products are made from a base cheese called Promontory. Promontory was chosen as the name because Tim and Pat wanted to create a sense of place. The company's most popular cheese is called Barely Buzzed. It's rubbed with espresso and lavender. Tim's brother, who lives in Grand Junction, developed a special blend of coffee for the cheese and hand roasts the beans himself.
Barely Buzzed has been well received and even won first place at the American Cheese Competition for the last three years. Seahive, which is rubbed with wildflower honey and sea salt from Redmond, Utah, is another top-selling product.
Tim and Pat do their best to use local products. They have enjoyed their affiliation with Slow Foods Utah and Buy Local First. They hope to see Beehive Cheese continue its steady growth — and even though the company's national presence is increasing, it's committed to maintaining the feeling of the old local creameries that inspired it.
