New England Cheesemaking Supply

What New England Cheesemaking Supply does

New England Cheesemaking Supply Company is a privately held, family-owned direct-to-consumer retailer founded in 1978 by Robert and Ricki Carroll in the New England region of the United States. The business operates a Shopify-based e-commerce storefront at cheesemaking.com, selling a catalog of approximately 240 SKUs spanning cheese making kits (17+), starter cultures (75+), rennet products (animal, vegetable, organic), mold powders, cheese molds and presses, thermometers, pH testing equipment, aging supplies (waxes, wraps), instructional books, gift cards, and adjacent fermented-dairy equipment for yogurt, butter, and kefir. The company sells to four identified segments — beginner home cheese makers (primary), intermediate to advanced hobbyists, homesteading/fermented-dairy enthusiasts, and a smaller wholesale channel for restaurants and cooking schools — with pay-as-you-go pricing and a 365-day happiness guarantee underpinning the consumer offer.

The technology stack is intentionally light: a standard Shopify storefront, a separate help.cheesemaking.com knowledge base, email-driven top-of-funnel acquisition with a 10% first-order incentive, and a content marketing layer comprising a Cheese Blog and 100+ free recipes segmented by skill level. There is no public API, no proprietary AI/ML capability, and no disclosed data flywheel. Brand authority — accumulated over 47+ years and reinforced by 10,000+ five-star customer ratings — is the central asset, supplemented by an active educational ecosystem and a tiered workshop program (Cheese Making 101 at $175, 201 at $625, and Successful Aging at $580) that introduces a professional-services revenue stream on top of physical-goods sales.

The business model is a one-time-purchase DTC retailer with no disclosed subscriptions, no external funding, no parent company, and no subsidiaries. Geographic scope is limited to the contiguous United States with free shipping over $55. Strategic signals in the source data point to incremental, organic expansion — workshops, the yogurt/butter/kefir category extension, a wholesale channel, and deeper content — rather than to venture-scale growth, and the operating footprint remains consistent with a 1–10 employee, founder-operated small business.

Name

New England Cheesemaking Supply

Legal name

New England Cheesemaking Supply Company

Website

https://cheesemaking.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1978

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

New England Cheesemaking Supply is a privately held, family-owned DTC retailer (founded 1978) that sells cheese making kits, cultures, rennet, equipment, books, gift cards, and paid workshops through its Shopify storefront cheesemaking.com, serving beginner to advanced home cheese makers and homesteading hobbyists across the contiguous U.S.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cheese Making Supplies

NAICS

Cheese Manufacturing (311513)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro primary industry

Cheese Manufacturing (AFAKAKAB)

Keywords

• Cheese making supplies
• Home cheese making
• Starter cultures
• Cheese making kits
• Dairy fermentation supplies

Headquarters

HQ city

South Deerfield

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Sale of cheese making ingredients, cultures, rennet, equipment, molds, presses, books, and kits through e-commerce. Revenue generated from one-time product purchases across 240+ SKUs.
2. Workshops: In-person and virtual cheese making workshops at different levels (101, 201, Successful Aging) with pricing from $175 to $625 per session.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

New England Cheesemaking Supply Company sells cheese making supplies directly to home cheese makers through an e-commerce storefront. The catalog of 240+ SKUs includes starter cultures, rennet, mold powders, cheese making equipment (presses, molds, thermometers, pH testing), additives, books, gift cards, and pre-packaged kits for beginners to advanced users. The company also offers in-person and virtual cheese making workshops at multiple skill levels.

Product overview

New England Cheesemaking Supply Company is a direct-to-consumer e-commerce business founded in 1978, offering a comprehensive portfolio of cheese making supplies. The company sells starter cultures (mesophilic, thermophilic, yogurt, and specialty cultures), rennet products (animal, vegetable, and organic varieties), mold powders for aged cheeses, cheese making equipment including presses, thermometers, molds and utensils, pH testing supplies, waxes and wraps for cheese aging, yogurt and butter making equipment, instructional books, gift cards, and educational workshops. The product lineup includes 17+ cheese kits ranging from beginner to advanced, 75+ cultures for various cheese types, 44+ molds for different cheese styles, 11 rennet products, and testing equipment. The company also offers 3 cheese making workshops (101, 201, and Successful Aging) priced from $175 to $625, and gift certificates in denominations from $10 to $175. Key brands include Ricki's Cheese Making kits, LyoPro cultures, and WalcoRen organic rennets. The company emphasizes its 40+ years of cheese making experience, 365-day happiness guarantee, and 10,000+ five-star reviews.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Complete Home Cheese Making Set (B1, K1 & K2)

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Leeners: Sells cheese making kits, cultures, equipment, and homebrew supplies online. Direct competitor in the home cheese making hobbyist segment with similar product breadth and DTC e-commerce model.
• Cultures for Health: Direct competitor selling cheese making cultures, supplies, and equipment to home cheese makers and fermenters. Closely overlapping product lines (cultures, rennet, kits) and similar DTC e-commerce model targeting the same hobbyist and homesteading customer base.
• Caprine Supply: Specialty retailer focused on goat dairy and cheese making supplies, including cultures, rennet, molds, and equipment. Comparable niche, customer base, and product catalog with a long-standing family-business profile.
• The Cheese Maker: Online retailer of cheese making ingredients, equipment, and kits for hobbyists and small commercial producers. Direct competitor with overlapping product categories and similar DTC distribution.
• Hoegger Supply: Specialty dairy and cheesemaking supply retailer focused on goat milk cheese making, selling cultures, rennet, molds, presses, and kits to home cheese makers. Operates in the same niche with overlapping product categories and similar target customers.

Regional players

• Glengarry Cheesemaking and Dairy Supply: Canadian-based cheesemaking supply retailer offering cultures, rennet, molds, and equipment to home cheese makers. Same product lines and target customer but primarily serves the Canadian market rather than the US.

Emerging players

• Urban Cheesecraft: Smaller specialty brand offering home cheese making kits and supplies via DTC e-commerce. Targets the same beginner-to-intermediate hobbyist segment with a more modern, urban-focused brand positioning.

Others

• Dairy Connection: Supplier of cultures, enzymes, and ingredients to the dairy and cheesemaking industry. Provides the upstream ingredient supply chain that category retailers like New England Cheesemaking Supply rely on for cultures and rennet.
• Homesteading supplier site (e.g., Lehman’s): Heritage homesteading and self-sufficiency retailer carrying a broader range of homesteading products including dairy and cheese making supplies. Comparable on the homesteading customer overlap but not a specialist in cheesemaking.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Mass-market e-commerce incumbent carrying cheese making kits, rennet, cultures, and equipment from multiple sellers. Represents the largest competitive threat on price, selection, and discovery for specialty cheesemaking supply retailers.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/necheesemaking
• Facebookfacebook.com/cheesemaking
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gramen-farm-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

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 New England Cheesemaking Supply