Marieke Penterman was born & raised in the Netherlands. She grew up on her parents’ 60 cow dairy farm, starting her dairy passion early. After getting her Bachelor’s Degree in Dairy Business, Marieke started a career as a farm inspector. In the meantime, her future husband, Rolf Penterman emigrated to Thorp, WI to start a 350 cow dairy farm in May 2002. Marieke followed Rolf a year later. She soon began to miss the cheese from back home.
So Marieke decided to get her Wisconsin Cheesemaking License after researching how to start her own business. Working with a local cheesemaker she traveled back to her home country to learn how to make authentic Dutch Gouda cheese. She trained alongside two different cheesemakers throughout the week. Just four months after Marieke crafted her first batch of Gouda in November 2006, she captured a gold award at the US Champion Cheese Contest in 2007. Dozens of awards followed! Their brand new state-of-the-art facility is located in Thorp, an ideal location with a vast dairy base and farm-friendly people.