Cabot Cheese
Agri-Mark owns the brand.
History
The original plant had an investment of $3,700 in total, which was paid by 94 farmers in proportion to the number of cattle which each owned. The cooperative started out making butter with the excess milk produced, and began shipping its products south.
In 1992, the cooperative merged under the Agri-Mark brand, another large New England farmers' cooperative.
In 2008, the Cabot Creamery had facilities in various locations, including Cabot, Route 100 in Waterbury, and a store in Quechee, Vermont. The cheese-making facilities in Cabot offer tours and information, and sell souvenirs.
There are, as of 2004, about 1,350 members in Vermont and the nearby part of upstate New York.
The cooperative still uses the Rochdale Principles.
The Cabot village creamery was built in 1893
Cabot began marketing cheese internationally in 2007.
The Cabot logo
Wine Spectator magazine selected a Cabot cloth-bound cheddar as one of its "100 great cheeses" of the world in 2008. That same year the American Cheese Society selected Cabot Monterrey Jack to receive one of the 33 national awards.
In 2008, there were about 400 Cabot farms in Vermont belonging to Agri-Mark.
In 2009, Agri-Mark had 1,300 farmer-members.
Ownership
As a co-op, Agri-Mark is owned by its farmer members. The co-op retains much of the excess profit up to $150,000 per farmer, as equity.
For farmers departing the co-op, this equity is repaid over seven years. Dividends in excess of the retained equity are returned to the members.
Operations
In 1994 when the two companies merged, they had $30 million in sales.
This reached $350 million in 2008.
Pollution violations
Cabot Creamery incurred two major pollution incidents resulted in penalties from the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. In 2000 Cabot Creamery was cited for "indirect discharge permit and land use permit."
In 2007 Cabot Creamery paid a $50,000 fine with an additional $50,000 funding of a Supplemental Environmental Projects. On November 27, 2007, Cabot Creamery agreed to plead guilty to violating the Clean Water Act after an ammonia spill killed thousands of fish in the Winooski River, in July 2005.