Rumiano Cheese Company
California’s oldest family-owned cheese company was founded by three young Italian immigrant brothers from a small town outside of Torino. With World War 1 approaching, they decided to head west to California.
In 1919, they purchased land around Willows, CA. The three brothers made a dynamic team, and they grew the business to eight plants throughout the Northwest. They provided customers with cheddars and jacks and a solution to the lack of hard Italian cheese. It was their take on hard Italian cheese, better known as Dry Monterey Jack, that has become the flagship item of Rumiano. It is considered a California-Original and is still made in hand-rolled wheels and aged on the original aging racks in Willows’ hand-dug cellar.
Today 3rd and 4th generation Rumianos work together. A Rumiano Family member is involved in each key area of the business.
The company comprises two factories – one in Crescent City and the other in Willows, California.
Nearly as notable as the family history is the milk shed from which Rumiano sources their milk. Humboldt and Del Norte counties provide the perfect environment for raising dairy cattle. The cows being milked for Rumiano Cheese are out on fresh, green pasture year-round and cared for by small, generational family farms. The milk produced in this region is unmatched in cleanliness, taste, and quality. Quality milk is the basis of our award-winning cheese.
The passion for quality products that were ignited all those years ago continues today. Rumiano Cheese Company strives for the perfect cheese experience, incorporating new ideas while maintaining the values instilled by its founders. A hundred years later, and Rumiano Cheese Company is still crafting cheese on the Redwood Coast!