Sweet Grass Dairy

What Sweet Grass Dairy does

Sweet Grass Dairy is an artisan cheese producer based in Thomasville, Georgia, founded in 2000 by Al and Desiree Wehner after they converted their family dairy in 1993 to an intensive rotational grazing system using predominantly Jersey cows that graze on grass 365 days a year. The milk is processed on-site into nine handcrafted cheese varieties, including Green Hill (double-cream soft-ripened), Asher Blue (raw-milk blue), Thomasville Tomme (Pyrenees-style farmhouse), Lil' Moo (spreadable fresh cheese), Pimento Cheese, Griffin (porter-washed), Georgia Gouda, Cypress (Mediterranean-inspired), and Heat (Southwestern-style). The company distributes through four channels: a Shopify-hosted e-commerce site with national cold-chain shipping, a Goldbelly marketplace listing, wholesale foodservice and retail accounts with documented spec sheets, and a restaurant and retail cheese shop opened in 2010 in downtown Thomasville.

Ownership is concentrated with Jessica Little and Jeremy Little, who purchased the cheesemaking business from the founders in 2005; the original Wehner family retained the dairy farming operation. The company has accumulated over 30 national and international cheese awards since 2015, including World Cheese Awards, Good Food Awards, American Cheese Society medals, and a Specialty Food Association Sofi Award, and has been featured in Food & Wine, O Magazine, Southern Living, and Garden and Gun. Marketing is primarily organic: an email newsletter with a 10% first-order incentive, an SMS program, an extensive recipe blog, and social media.

Revenue is not publicly disclosed. The firm employs 11–50 people, operates a single creamery and a single restaurant, and has no institutional capital, no M&A activity, and no disclosed funding rounds. New initiatives include the Farm Camp 2025 educational program ($150/camper, limited to 100 children) and continued national wholesale expansion. The technical stack is conventional commerce tooling (Shopify, Revelup, Google Drive, Goldbelly) with no identified AI/ML capability.

Name

Sweet Grass Dairy

Legal name

Sweet Grass Dairy

Website

https://sweetgrassdairy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2000

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sweet Grass Dairy is a Thomasville, Georgia-based artisan cheese producer handcrafting nine cheese varieties from grass-fed Jersey cows. It sells direct-to-consumer nationwide, through Goldbelly and wholesale foodservice, and operates a downtown cheese shop restaurant.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan Cheese

NAICS

Cheese Manufacturing (311513), Dairy Product (except Frozen) Manufacturing (31151), Dairy Cattle and Milk Production (112120), Dairy Product Manufacturing (3115)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020), Agricultural Prod-Livestock & Animal Specialties (200)

akta.pro primary industry

Pasture-Based & Grazing Dairy Systems (AFAEACAI)

Keywords

• Artisan cheese
• Specialty dairy products
• Grass-fed cheese
• Handcrafted farmstead cheese
• Cheese wholesale

Headquarters

HQ city

Thomasville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Revenue model

1. Cheese Production and Direct Sales: Handcrafted artisan cheeses sold directly to consumers through e-commerce shipping nationwide, with perishable products shipped in insulated boxes with frozen gel packs.
2. Restaurant/Cheese Shop Operations: Full-service restaurant in downtown Thomasville, GA offering handcrafted cheese and charcuterie boards, sandwiches, salads, small plates, desserts, cocktails, and 8 taps of craft beer.
3. Foodservice and Retail Distribution: National distribution of cheeses to restaurants, retailers, and distributors through wholesale channels, with product information sheets available for trade customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sweet Grass Dairy is an artisan cheese producer that handcrafts nine varieties of cheese from the milk of grass-fed Jersey cows raised under an intensive rotational grazing system on their farm in Thomasville, Georgia. The company sells cheeses through its own e-commerce site, a restaurant and cheese shop in downtown Thomasville, national foodservice and retail wholesale distribution, and the Goldbelly marketplace. It also runs an educational Farm Camp program for young children.

Product overview

Sweet Grass Dairy is an artisan cheese company operating as a single unified product line centered on handcrafted cheeses made from the milk of grass-fed Jersey cows. Their core portfolio consists of nine distinct cheese products: Green Hill (double cream soft-ripened), Asher Blue (raw milk blue), Thomasville Tomme (French-style farmhouse cheese), Lil' Moo Original (spreadable fresh cheese), Pimento Cheese (Southern classic), Griffin (beer-washed farmstead), Georgia Gouda (young Dutch-style), Cypress (Mediterranean-inspired herb cheese), and Heat (Southwestern spicy). Beyond cheese production, the company operates the Cheese Shop restaurant in Thomasville offering charcuterie, sandwiches, and craft beverages, and runs Farm Camp educational programs for children. The company distributes nationally and sells through their own website, Goldbelly marketplace, and the on-site restaurant.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• For Good GranolaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on recipe development. For Good Granola is a women-owned company based in Chicago that crafts flavor-indulgent buckwheat granola. They partnered on recipes like Spinach, Georgia Gouda, and Sweet Curry Strata with For Good Granola Sweet Curry Buckwheat granola.
• Gate City BrewingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupplier of Terminus Porter beer used in production of Griffin cheese. The cheese curds are soaked in an entire half barrel of Terminus Porter from Gate City Brewing.
• GoldbellyminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline marketplace platform where Sweet Grass Dairy cheeses are sold nationally. Products available include Green Hill cheese wedge, Asher Blue wedge, Griffin wedge, Georgia Gouda wedge, Heat wedge, and Pimento Cheese.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Vermont Creamery: An artisan dairy and cheese producer selling fresh and aged cheeses plus cultured butter nationwide through DTC, foodservice, and retail channels. Highly comparable in size, channel mix, and quality story to Sweet Grass Dairy.
• Rogue Creamery: An Oregon-based award-winning artisan cheesemaker famous for its blue cheeses (e.g., Rogue River Blue) with national DTC and wholesale distribution. Direct peer in craft, awards, and channel structure.
• Jasper Hill Farm: A Vermont farmstead cheesemaker producing multiple aged raw-milk cheeses (e.g., Bayley Hazen Blue, Cabot Clothbound) with national distribution and a caves-based aging model. Comparable craft positioning and channel mix.
• Beecher's Handmade Cheese: A Seattle-based artisan cheese maker combining a flagship cheese-making retail/restaurant experience with national foodservice and wholesale distribution of premium cheeses. Closely comparable retail + foodservice model.
• Maytag Dairy Farms: Iowa-based farmstead producer of award-winning raw milk blue cheese (e.g., Maytag Blue) with national specialty distribution. Direct peer in premium blue cheese category and small-scale artisan structure.
• Grafton Village Cheese: A Vermont craft cheesemaker producing award-winning aged cheeses (e.g., Vermont Cheddar, Griddu), national specialty distribution, and direct retail. Comparable small-batch artisan model with overlap on aged cheese categories.
• Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company: California farmstead cheesemaker offering a range of award-winning cheeses (e.g., Original Blue, Toma) with broad national wholesale distribution. Comparable in scale, channel breadth, and family-farm heritage.

Broad incumbents

• Cabot Creamery: A farmer-owned Vermont dairy cooperative producing a wide range of cheese and dairy products with substantial national retail presence. Larger incumbent offering overlapping cheese categories at more accessible price points.
• Cypress Grove (Emmi Roth): Northern California-origin premium goat cheese maker (e.g., Humboldt Fog) now part of Emmi Roth's broader specialty dairy portfolio. Similar artisan origin story with significantly broader scale after acquisition.

Others

• Goldbelly (marketplace): Online curated food marketplace that distributes Sweet Grass's cheeses and many peers' products nationwide. Listed here as an ecosystem/partner enabler rather than direct competitor, central to the company's national growth.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/dairy_grass

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sweet Grass Dairy