About Maplebrook Farm

“It’s that lady from Boston about the cheese,” Al Scheps called to his son, Michael. In the organized chaos that is Al Ducci’s Italian Pantry in Manchester, Vermont, Michael Scheps couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

The younger Scheps is a third-generation cheesemaker. His grandfather owned a large cheese plant in northern New Jersey, but his father, looking for both change and skiing, moved to Vermont and opened Al Ducci’s in 1988. Michael came along, and the two applied their carefully honed cheesemaking skills to producing small quantities of hand-stretched whole milk mozzarella for their loyal customers.

In walked Johann Englert, the so-called lady from Boston. She had tasted their mozzarella on a visit to Vermont in 2003 and hadn’t tasted that old world style cheese since she was in Italy during her college years. She bought 10 balls and began touring them around to gourmet shops in her home city of Boston. They all wanted more.

And so, the story goes, a business was born. Johann kept requesting more cheese, and Michael struggled to keep up. It was inevitable how the conversation would turn. They purchased a building in Bennington, Vermont and began Maplebrook Farm.

Initially, curd was purchased from northern Vermont farms for cheesemaking. Now, after yet another expansion in 2009, milk is trucked in from farms around Vermont and separated into curd and whey right at the Maplebrook Farm plant. Unused whey is shipped out to animal farmers in Vermont, resulting in an efficient system with no waste.

With a commitment to natural ingredients and hand processing, freshness can be tasted in Maplebrook Farm artisan cheeses.

Our Commitment

 

Maplebrook Farm employs local citizens and purchases milk from Vermont farmers while maintaining a commitment to produce cheese that is pure, natural and free of any hormones or perservatives.

 

The pride our cheesemakers take in producing our cheese is reflected in the quality of our product. We are fully committted to the well-being of the entire Maplebrook Farm family.

 

We will never compromise quality and consistency in our constant effort to maintain the highest standards of all our cheese. Our new products will benefit from the same commitment to flavor, purity and natural goodness.