Nettle Meadow

What Nettle Meadow does

Nettle Meadow (legal entity Nettle Meadow Farm) is a privately held, founder-owned artisan cheesemaker founded in 1990 in Thurman, New York, in the Adirondack region between Gore Mountain/North Creek and Warrensburg. It produces more than 40 award-winning cheeses from local cow, goat, and sheep milk, with trademarked Kunik (a triple-crème goat cheese blended with Jersey cream) as its flagship, alongside named varieties such as Truffle Kunik, Adironjack (with local applejack brandy), Sugar Loaf, Three Sisters, and Honey Lavender Fromage Frais. Production uses traditional artisan methods; a newly opened state-of-the-art facility in 2022 at the company's second site, The Hitching Post in Lake Luzerne, delivers roughly 8x the production capacity of the original Thurman creamery.

The company runs two physical locations: the Kemp Animal Sanctuary and original farm/creamery at 484 South Johnsburg Road in Thurman, and The Hitching Post at 1256 Lake Avenue in Lake Luzerne, which combines the production plant with a retail shop, tasting room, and a Saturday–Sunday restaurant and tavern featuring cheese boards, macaroni and cheese made with Kunik, and local craft beer and wine. It serves three primary customer segments — direct consumers (farm visitors and on-site retail/food service), restaurant/hospitality buyers, and wholesale/retail buyers such as Saxelby Cheesemongers and Adams Fairacre Farms — and accepts wholesale and distributor inquiries via [email protected].

Revenue mechanics blend one-time cheese and food sales across owned retail and restaurant channels with two recurring streams tied to the affiliated nonprofit Kemp Animal Sanctuary (a 501(c)(3) housing 130+ rescued animals): tiered annual memberships ($40 individual, $75 dual, $100 family, $500 business, $1,000 angel) providing tour access and 10% cheese discounts, plus tax-deductible donations. Distribution combines regional DTC retail at both locations, a domestic distributor/wholesale network, hospitality venue sales at The Hitching Post, and event-driven sales during Wine & Cheese Pairings, Thurman Maple Days, and sanctuary fundraisers. Marketing is conducted through social channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube), the nettlemeadow.com website, earned press (Esquire, Wine Spectator, Adirondack Explorer, Culture Cheese Magazine, Glens Falls Chronicle), and on-premise events and tours. Co-owner Sheila Flanagan publicly invited mission-aligned investors in 2025, marking the first known opening to outside capital.

Name

Nettle Meadow

Legal name

Nettle Meadow Farm

Website

https://nettlemeadow.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1990

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Nettle Meadow is a privately held, Adirondack-based artisan cheesemaker producing 40+ award-winning goat, sheep, and cow milk cheeses — including the trademarked Kunik — via an original Thurman farm and a 2022 Lake Luzerne production facility, restaurant, and retail site, serving direct visitors, hospitality buyers, and wholesale specialty retailers.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisan / Specialty Cheese

NAICS

Cheese Manufacturing (311513), Dairy Product Manufacturing (3115), Goat Farming (112420)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro primary industry

Cheese Manufacturing (AFAKAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Cheese (Natural & Processed) (CRADACAC), Farmstead & Local Artisan Food Markets (Retail Shops) (CRAHAGAO), Ripened Natural Cheese Manufacturing (Semi-Soft, Hard & Blue) (AFAHABAB), Dairy Goat Farming (Milk Production) (AFAEAFAC)

Keywords

• Artisan cheese
• Goat cheese
• Sheep milk cheese
• Farm sanctuary
• Specialty creamery

Headquarters

HQ city

Warrensburg

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cheese Sales: Direct retail and restaurant sales of artisan cheeses at farm store and The Hitching Post tavern. Wholesale/distributor inquiries accepted.
2. Sanctuary Memberships: Annual memberships providing access to members-only farm tours and 10% discount on cheese purchases. Tiers: Individual ($40), Two memberships ($75), Family ($100), Business ($500), Angel ($1,000).
3. Donations: Tax-deductible donations to support the Kemp Animal Sanctuary, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization caring for 130+ sanctuary animals.
4. Restaurant & Tavern: Food service revenue from The Hitching Post restaurant featuring cheese-focused menu, local wines, American craft beers, and cheese tastings.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Nettle Meadow manufactures and sells more than 40 award-winning artisan cheeses — including the trademarked Kunik triple crème goat cheese — made from local cow, goat, and sheep milk sourced from the Adirondack region of upstate New York. The creamery pairs cheese production with the Kemp Animal Sanctuary (a 501(c)(3) nonprofit) and The Hitching Post restaurant, tavern, and tasting room, selling cheese directly at the farm and to wholesale restaurant/retail customers across the Northeast.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Artisan Cheese Collection (40+ varieties) Award-winning portfolio of more than 40 artisan cheeses handcrafted from local cow, goat, and sheep milk in the Adirondack region, sold directly at the farm store, Hitching Post shop, and to wholesale customers.
• Kunik Cheese (trademarked)
• The Hitching Post Restaurant & Tavern Restaurant and tavern at the Lake Luzerne location open Saturday–Sunday featuring cheese-focused menus, cheese boards, small plates, macaroni and cheese with Kunik and Peppered Ewe, local wines, American craft beers, and cheese tastings.
• Kemp Animal Sanctuary Memberships Annual membership program supporting the 130+ rescued farm animals at the Kemp Animal Sanctuary, with tiers from Individual ($40) to Angel ($1,000) granting members-only farm tour access and a 10% discount on cheese purchases.
• Wholesale Cheese Distribution Wholesale supply of Nettle Meadow artisan cheeses to restaurant and retail buyers via distributor partnerships; inquiries handled at [email protected].
• Farm Sanctuary Tours & Visitor Experiences Guided walks and visits at the Thurman, NY farm where guests meet 130+ rescued farm animals (sheep, goats, cows, horses, donkeys, llamas, pigs, chickens, ducks, turkeys, cats, bunnies, peacocks) and purchase cheese on-site.

Quantifiable outcome

• Kunik won 1st Place at 2025 American Cheese Society Awards
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Sheila FlanagancoreOthersCo-owner of Nettle Meadow reaching out to mission-aligned investors for expansion. Contact: [email protected]
• Saxelby CheesemongersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorNYC-based specialty cheese retailer featuring Nettle Meadow's Kunik cheese and promoting their products to customers

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Rogue Creamery: Oregon-based award-winning artisan creamery (notably blue cheese). Comparable in scale, multi-award product line, farm/creamery brand storytelling, and wholesale-plus-direct distribution.
• Cypress Grove: Iconic U.S. artisan goat cheese maker (e.g., Humboldt Fog). Directly comparable in product mix (goat-milk soft and bloomy-rind cheeses), premium positioning, and specialty/cheese-monger channel.
• Vermont Creamery: Artisan creamery best known for goat cheese and cultured dairy, sold nationally in retail and foodservice. Closely comparable to Nettle Meadow in product category (goat-milk cheeses, soft-ripened styles), brand-led positioning, and multi-format distribution.
• Jasper Hill Farm: Vermont artisan cheese maker and affineur with on-farm production. Comparable in farmstead positioning, multi-award product range, and blend of on-site experience with national wholesale distribution.
• Shelburne Farms: Vermont farmstead cheddar maker and educational farm. Comparable as a farm-based cheesemaker that bundles artisan cheese production with on-site hospitality, tours, and an institutional/nonprofit overlay.
• Haystack Mountain: Long-running Colorado-based goat cheese creamery. Comparable as a regional, goat-milk-focused artisan cheese producer with a similar specialty/cheese-monger and foodservice distribution model.
• Beecher's Handmade Cheese: Artisan cheese maker with a flagship retail/restaurant location and national wholesale. Comparable as a brand-forward creamery combining cheesemaking, on-site food service, and premium retail.

Broad incumbents

• Murray's Cheese: Iconic NYC cheese shop, wholesaler, and affinage business. Comparable as a downstream channel for Nettle Meadow (Saxelby Cheesemongers relationship is in this vein) and as a benchmark for cheese retail/wholesale economics.
• Cabot Creamery: Large Northeast U.S. dairy cooperative with broad cheese and dairy portfolio. Comparable as a regional dairy/cheese brand competing in the same Northeast grocery channel, but at meaningfully larger scale and broader category scope.

Regional players

• Saxelby Cheesemongers: NYC-based specialty cheese retailer actively promoting Nettle Meadow's Kunik. Comparable as a regional channel partner and as a specialty cheese retail benchmark for the Northeast market Nettle Meadow serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCZ9jT4800LfJgyPr4wQMyCA
• Facebookfacebook.com/nettlemeadowfarm
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nettle-meadow
• Instagraminstagram.com/nettlemeadowfarm
• Xx.com/nettle_meadow

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Nettle Meadow