The Beemster Story
Premium Gourmet Dutch Cheese
From 20 feet below sea level
Beemster cheese originates in the quiet, canal lined pastures of North Holland. This remarkable landscape, located 20 feet below sea level, was reclaimed from the sea in 1612. Dutch engineers used dykes, 55 windmills and extensive manual labor to drain the area now known as the Beemster polderand convert it into lush pastures. When they pumped out the last of the water, they discovered the soil beneath is a special sea clay, mineral rich in composition and a distinctive blue in color. This terroir grows greener, thicker, sweeter grasses and allows the cows that graze on it to give sweeter milk with softer milk fat. It is that unique tasting milk that gives Beemster cheeses their unmistakable taste and creaminess, leading to our renowned reputation.
Once the Beemster polder was drained it soon became inhabited by farmers hoping to plant crops. When the farmers began to till the soil they found that it was like nothing they had ever seen before. The sea clay, that had for thousands of years prior been the bottom of the lagoon, was blue in color. They found that the grasses thrived on this newly discovered soil and that the cows loved grazing on the lush grasses. It soon became known throughout The Netherlands that the best milk came from the Beemster Polder.
The farmers of the Beemster Polder are very much aware of the value of their pastures for which they care greatly. To this day no pesticides are used within the Beemster polder on any of the pastures.
In the early 19th century traders started to pay a premium for cheese coming from the Beemster Polder.
In 1901 the farmers in the polder decided to take the earnings from their milk and cheese and collectively build a dairy.
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