Say Cheese!
Sweet Grass Dairy Makes Chefs and Customers Smile
October 2006
By Karen S. Adle
Sweet Grass Dairy is one of those success stories that makes people feel good – especially when tasting their award-winning cheeses. This family operation began with the vision of Al and Desiree Wehner, dairy farmers who left conventional farming in 1993 to create a natural and sustainable system at Green Hill Dairy, a 350-acre New Zealand-style rotational grazing dairy farm in Quitman, GA. They later opened their sister operation, Sweet Grass Dairy, which became the headquarters for a world-class cheese making facility that is operated by Jessica and Jeremy Littles, the Wehners’ daughter and son-in-law.
Situated on 140 acres in Thomasville, GA, Sweet Grass is about 30 miles from Green Hill Dairy and is home to the multibreed goats that provide the milk for their fresh chevre; Georgia pecan chevre; Lumiere, a soft-ripened cheese coated and layered with grapevine ash for balancing; and Holly Springs, an aged semi-soft raw cheese. Green Hill Dairy is home to the cows, who produce the milk for five cheeses: Green Hill, a rich, buttery double cream; Thomasville Tomme, a mellow aged raw milk cheese; Georgia gouda; Clayburne, made in the style of a bandaged English Cheddar; and Myrtlewood, a unique aged cheese with a hard, dry texture.
Sweet Grass is the only dairy in Georgia, and is one of only a few in the Southeast that sells beyond an immediate area. Desiree Wehner’s original idea was to sell direct from the farm, serving local residents of the area with an array of dairy products, including milk, butter, ice cream and cheese. When the Littles moved back to south Georgia in 2002, there wasn’t enough business in the immediate area in Thomas County to support the entire family. They explored ways to increase the production and distribution of their cheeses and decided that marketing to restaurants that could appreciate the high-quality local flavor would be the key to their plan. Their first customer in Atlanta was Star Provisions, owned by Anne Quatrano and Clifford Harrison, chef/owners of Bacchanalia and Floataway Café. Quatrano and Harrison are avid supporters of local food and farmers, and continue to buy large amounts of cheese from Sweet Grass.
Jessica Littles acknowledges that there are advantages to being the only cheese maker in Georgia, but she says that they would welcome other dairies. Having recently attended the conference of the American Cheese Society, she has seen cheese makers in other states, such as Vermont and California, join forces to maximize resources by buying supplies in bulk and creating better shipping solutions.
In addition to the excellence of the product, much of the credit for the success of Sweet Grass goes to the chefs who try Sweet Grass products and become enthusiastic, says Littles. She points out that there does seem to be a threshold people must cross to realize that cheese doesn’t have to come from Wisconsin or Vermont to be good. Without an advertising budget, word of mouth has been the dairy’s only real form of promotion, and the chefs who have discovered Sweet Grass are its biggest promoters. In the beginning, Littles would approach the chefs in Atlanta that she and her husband thought would be interested in having a local, high-quality product. Seeger’s was one of their first influential accounts; many other chefs around the Southeast would try a Sweet Grass cheese there, then call to place an order.
Now you can expect to find Sweet Grass products on the menus of many restaurants throughout Atlanta, including Dish, Restaurant Eugene, South City Kitchen, Woodfire, Mid City Cuisine, 5 Seasons Brewing and Restaurant, and Table 1280. And others around the state are catching on. If you make the drive to Tybee Island from Savannah to George’s, you’ll find that Sweet Grass cheeses have made their way to the coast.
Chef Sheri Davis, chef-owner of Dish, presents a cheese platter that features four Sweet Grass products, and she lets her guests know that these are Georgia local-grown products. The cheeses are accompanied by Dish’s own olive crisps, bread and a variety of treats such as currants, figs, cherries and spiced pecans. Jessica Littles remembers the first time she visited Chef Davis. When she walked in, Davis said, “I’ve been waiting for you. I knew that somebody was going to do this soon – I just didn’t know when.” Chef Davis’ enthusiasm has held steady; she has been placing orders every two weeks for four years. “Sweet Grass cheeses are impeccable. They are so flavorful, and the variety is great,” she says. More than just the product, Davis says she loves the way that Littles and the family have a passion for the animals, the restaurants and the chefs.
Another chef who waxes eloquent about Sweet Grass products is Linton Hopkins. Hopkins owns and operates Restaurant Eugene with his wife, Gina Hopkins, who runs the front of the house and is the restaurant’s sommelier. The Hopkins team is also a strong supporter of local and sustainable farming, and recently took the opportunity to take their staff down to the dairy to spend the day making cheese and visiting the farms. Hopkins also feels a kinship with Jessica and Jeremy Littles – he and his wife share the same kind of passion for what they are doing that they experience with Sweet Grass. He appreciates their products and he also likes their philosophies about sustainability and their belief in proper animal husbandry.
One of Chef Hopkins’ favorites in the line is the Green Hill, which he describes as one of the freshest he has ever tasted, made from the most pure milk. “”It evokes the fresh food the cows are eating. It is all about the milk,” he says. The Chevre, which Hopkins finds to be quite versatile, is also a Restaurant Eugene favorite. One way he is currently serving it is mixed with grits to create stuffed squash blossoms.
Jessica Littles points out that they are fortunate in south Georgia to have a climate that supports year-round grazing. This is only one of many points in favor of this vibrant young company that has made such an impact on the food and farm scene in Georgia in a short time. Going on the adage, “What goes around comes around,” the Sweet Grass family commitments to healthy, natural, humane farming, caring for their customers and producing superb products will reap continued success for Sweet Grass Dairy.
To learn more about Sweet Grass Dairy, call (229) 227-0752 or visit www.sweetgrassdairy.com.
Georgia Organics, a nonprofit organization that supports organic and sustainable farming and living in our state, provided this article. Georgia Organics is working for a future when every resident has access to fresh, healthy foods grown by local farmers. To learn more, visit www.georgiaorganics.org, or call (678) 702-0400.
Karen S. Adler is a writer, editor and project consultant who works with Georgia Organics as an editor and mentoring program coordinator.
