Cal Poly Creamery Offers Seven Varieties of Specialty Cheeses for the Holidays

SAN LUIS OBISPO – It’s a busy time at the historic Cal Poly Creamery, where students are wrapping up a wide array of university-made cheeses for holiday gift packs.

The seven varieties for sale this year include Gouda, Smoked Gouda, Mustang Cheddar, Smoked Cheddar, Chipotle Jack, San Luis Lace and Reduced-fat Lace. The Lace cheeses are award-winning Cal Poly originals. All are available for order through Dec. 1 at www.calpolycheese.com.

The program’s award-winning cheeses are made and packaged entirely by students, who work closely throughout the year with Dairy Science professor Nana Farkye and Cal Poly Creamery Manager Jerry Mattas. The students involved in the project gain hands-on experience creating, packaging, marketing and shipping the cheeses.

Five gift packs are available for order this year: the Green & Gold Special, Mustang Sampler and Smokey Pack (each contains three 12-oz. packages of cheese), the President’s Choice (four packages) and the Poly Grande (12 oz. each of all seven cheeses). Order early; gift packs sell out every year.

The cheeses are aged for a minimum of nine months, and made from the milk of Cal Poly’s dairy herd of Jersey and Holstein cows, a combination that adds a unique flavor to the cheese.

The Creamery has been making dairy products for the Central Coast since 1903. For a listing of cheeses, packages and prices, and ordering information, visit www.calpolycheese.com, or contact the dairy plant office at (805) 756-6644 or creamery@calpoly.edu.

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