Local artisan cheesemaker Ed Puterbaugh will tell you that you don’t add cheddar or gouda flavoring when creating one his small-batch Boone Creek Creamery inventions. Instead, he says, the tastes and textures — from sharp to mellow and crumbling to creamy — arise naturally from the recipes, the art and science of mixing milk, enzymes, molds and time.
The same principle holds for Puterbaugh’s latest creation: the largest store featuring only Kentucky Proud products in the region.
“The Department of Agriculture has confirmed that we have the largest exclusive collection of Kentucky Proud products in central Kentucky,” he said. “We won’t have any other products.”
The store, Puterbaugh says, is a natural extension of his hobby-turned-vocation and a way of supporting the state’s craft food and arts scenes, which he also relies upon for networking and sales. The official grand opening is set for Nov. 30.
One of the largest artisan cheese producers in Kentucky, Boone Creek Creamery moved in August 2014 from its initial Palumbo Drive location to a new venue nearby more than double the original’s size.
“We did tours at the old building, and it was just totally insane,” Puterbaugh said of trying to host dozens of people in the tight workspace.
With about 6,000 square feet of space, the new location is designed to cater to tour groups, which come by the busload, as well as to house the cheese-making operation and Kentucky Proud store.
“We get a lot of mom and pops, from Michigan and Maryland and Florida and all over the place,” Puterbaugh said.
The new factory is outfitted with large glass windows, allowing tour groups to watch as the “cheese minions” work their magic. Shelves along the wall of the comfortable tasting area are now lined with Kentucky-made jams, jellies, pickles, lotions, salsas and other unique artisan products.
Puterbaugh, who has a background in microbiology and also owns a marketing company, has been making cheese commercially for about six years.
“We’re doing 1,000 pounds or more a week,” he said. “That’s really tiny. It sounds like a lot, but it’s not. The big guys in Wisconsin are doing more than 15,000 pounds a week. They have to unload all that, which is why they sell it so cheap.”
He said the local craft food and arts communities continue to be key to his business.
“We do nine farmers markets every weekend [when it’s nice outside], and I do a lot of shows,” he said. “Not food events; I do some food events, but I do a lot of art events.”
He said at the beginning some people questioned his approach but it’s proven successful.
“I started approaching the art communities and saying, ‘Hey, I’d like to be part of your art show.’ Everyone thought we were nuts, but we’re a great fit because we’re a handmade artisan product,” he said. “The same clientele who are patrons of artists are patrons of us, so we’re actually a really good fit.”
Puterbaugh continues to work art shows as a way to break into new markets, including places as far away as Atlanta.
But the new Kentucky Proud store is all about goods made in the Bluegrass, and the opening comes just in time for another of Puterbaugh’s growing endeavours: Kentucky Proud holiday gift baskets.
“Last Christmas season we shipped baskets to Canada, we shipped baskets all the way to Germany for corporate customers,” he said. “We get a lot of consumers who want one basket or two baskets or three baskets, and we get corporate customers that want 500 baskets.”
Puterbaugh said the baskets contain all Kentucky Proud goods. They range in price from $20 to $300 and can be custom-built at the store. The store located at 2416 Palumbo Drive, Ste. 110 is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, and Puterbaugh said Saturday hours will be added through the holidays. More information can be found at: www.boonecreekcreamery.com.