Cowgirl Creamery

Cowgirl Creamery is an artisan cheese company with retail locations in San Francisco and Point Reyes Station, California, known for producing organic cheeses and supporting local dairy farmers. Founded in 1997 by Sue Conley and Peggy Smith, the business helped define the farm-to-table cheese movement in the Bay Area, sourcing milk from small organic farms in Marin and Sonoma counties. Its flagship cheeses, including Mt Tam and Red Hawk, have won awards from the American Cheese Society and earned the creamery a national following among cheese enthusiasts.

History

Sue Conley and Peggy Smith founded Cowgirl Creamery after long careers in the Bay Area food world. Smith spent years as a chef at Chez Panisse, Alice Waters' influential Berkeley restaurant, where she developed a commitment to sourcing ingredients from local farms. Conley worked in food service and distribution. Together, they identified a gap in the market: locally produced, certified organic cheeses made from the milk of nearby farms. That observation became a business.

In 1997, they opened their first creamery in Point Reyes Station, a small town in western Marin County, in a converted barn on the grounds of Tomales Bay Foods. The location placed them close to the organic dairy farms whose milk they relied on, particularly Straus Family Creamery, one of the first certified organic dairies west of the Mississippi. A retail location followed in San Francisco's Ferry Building Marketplace after that landmark food hall opened in 2003. The Ferry Building shop became their most visible location, drawing both locals and tourists.

Their cheesemaking operation grew steadily through the early 2000s. The creamery's Mt Tam, a soft-ripened triple-cream cheese made from organic pasteurized cow's milk, became a signature product. Red Hawk, a washed-rind cheese with a pungent aroma and complex flavor, won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society's annual competition. These awards brought national attention. Over time, Cowgirl Creamery's cheeses appeared in specialty food stores, restaurants, and mail-order catalogs across the country.

In 2015, Conley and Smith sold Cowgirl Creamery to Emmi Group, a Swiss dairy cooperative and one of the largest cheese companies in Europe. The sale allowed the founders to retire while the brand continued operating under its established name and practices. Emmi has since maintained the creamery's organic sourcing commitments and kept the Point Reyes Station and Ferry Building locations open.

The broader California artisan cheese industry has faced significant headwinds in the years since. Rising production costs, labor shortages, and shrinking retail margins have strained small producers across the state. The San Francisco Chronicle reported in 2025 that California's artisan cheese movement, which Cowgirl Creamery helped build, was struggling to sustain itself as several prominent dairies scaled back or closed. Cowgirl Creamery, backed by Emmi's resources, has continued operating through this period. Still, the challenges facing the wider industry cast a shadow on the movement its founders helped launch.

Locations

Cowgirl Creamery's original production facility is in Point Reyes Station, a small coastal community in western Marin County about 40 miles north of San Francisco. The creamery occupies a converted barn at Tomales Bay Foods, a cooperative food hub that has supported local producers since the 1990s. This location houses the primary cheesemaking operation and includes a retail counter where visitors can purchase cheeses directly. The surrounding landscape, characterized by rolling grasslands and a marine climate, supports the dairy farming that underpins the creamery's supply chain.

The San Francisco retail shop is located in the Ferry Building Marketplace on the Embarcadero, a renovated 1898 transit terminal that now houses a permanent food market. The Ferry Building location is the creamery's most prominent retail presence, positioned along the waterfront with views of the San Francisco Bay. It offers a full selection of Cowgirl Creamery's house-made cheeses alongside a curated selection from other domestic and international producers. The shop also serves composed cheese boards and sandwiches.

The creamery sources its milk primarily from Straus Family Creamery in Marshall, Marin County, and other certified organic dairies in Marin and Sonoma counties. These farms operate under organic certification standards that prohibit synthetic pesticides and require pasture access for dairy herds. The geographic closeness of these farms to the production facility in Point Reyes Station reduces transportation time for fresh milk, a factor the creamery has cited as important to the quality of the finished cheese.

Products

Cowgirl Creamery produces a core line of original cheeses alongside seasonal and limited-run varieties. Mt Tam is the creamery's best-known cheese, a soft-ripened triple-cream made from organic pasteurized whole milk and cream. It has a bloomy white rind and a buttery, mushroomy interior. Named after Mount Tamalpais in Marin County, it's become a benchmark for American-made triple-cream cheese.

Red Hawk is a washed-rind cheese aged for several weeks and treated with a brine solution that encourages the growth of a reddish-orange bacterial culture on its surface. The result is a pungent, complex cheese with a soft interior. It won Best of Show at the American Cheese Society competition, one of the most competitive events in the domestic specialty cheese industry. Pierce Pt, another washed-rind variety, is rolled in dried herbs and edible flowers sourced from local farms. Hop Along is a fresh cheese made in the style of fromage blanc, mild and spreadable, often used as a base for savory or sweet preparations.

The creamery also sells cheeses from other producers, both domestic and imported, at its retail locations. The selection changes seasonally and reflects the buyers' relationships with small-scale cheesemakers across the country and in Europe.

Culture

Cowgirl Creamery's retail shops function as gathering points for people who take cheese seriously. Don't expect a quiet specialty food store. The staff at both locations are trained to describe cheeses in detail, explain production methods, and make pairing recommendations. The creamery has offered tasting events and educational workshops, introducing customers to the mechanics of cheesemaking and the distinctions between cheese styles and aging processes.

The business has been open about the sourcing of its milk, publishing information about its farm partners and their practices. Straus Family Creamery, the primary milk supplier, operates under organic certification and has been a partner since the creamery's earliest days. This emphasis on transparency shaped how Cowgirl Creamery marketed itself and contributed to a broader shift in how American consumers think about cheese provenance. The farm-to-table framework that Chez Panisse helped establish in the 1970s found a direct application in the creamery's approach to sourcing and storytelling.

Conley and Smith have spoken publicly about building a workplace culture that valued craft and collaboration. After the Emmi acquisition in 2015, the founding team stepped back from daily operations, but the brand identity they built has remained largely intact. Emmi has not substantially rebranded the creamery or altered its core product line, a decision that reflects the commercial value of the original identity.

Economy

Cowgirl Creamery contributes to local economies in both San Francisco and Marin County through employment, retail sales, and agricultural purchasing. The Ferry Building and Point Reyes Station locations employ retail staff, cheesemongers, and production workers. The creamery's purchases of organic milk from Marin and Sonoma county farms provide revenue to those operations, supporting the economic viability of small-scale dairy farming in a region where land costs are high.

The artisan cheese industry in California occupies a niche within the larger food sector, but its economic influence extends beyond direct sales. Cowgirl Creamery helped raise the national profile of California-made specialty cheese, which contributed to increased demand for the category as a whole. Its presence in the Ferry Building Marketplace, one of San Francisco's most-visited food destinations, connects it to the city's tourism economy. The Ferry Building draws roughly six million visitors per year, many of whom visit food vendors including the creamery.

Since the Emmi acquisition, the financial structure of the business has changed from an independent operation to a subsidiary of a large multinational dairy company. This shift has provided capital and distribution support that independent artisan producers typically lack. It has also drawn scrutiny from some in the artisan food community who view large corporate ownership as inconsistent with the independent spirit the creamery originally represented. The tension between craft identity and corporate ownership is not unique to Cowgirl Creamery. It's a recurring dynamic in the specialty food industry.

Getting There

The Ferry Building location is one of the most accessible food destinations in San Francisco. The building sits at the foot of Market Street on the Embarcadero, directly across from the Ferry Building BART and Muni Metro stop. Multiple Muni bus and streetcar lines stop nearby. The building is also served by regional ferry services from Marin County, Oakland, and Vallejo, which dock at the Ferry Building terminal. Bicycle parking is available on the Embarcadero promenade. Car access is possible, with metered parking along the Embarcadero and in surrounding garages, though traffic in the area is heavy during commute hours and on Saturday market days.

The Point Reyes Station location is accessible by car via Highway 1 north from San Francisco, a drive of roughly 90 minutes depending on traffic. Public transit options to Point Reyes Station are limited, though the West Marin Stagecoach bus service connects the town to San Rafael, where transfers to regional transit are available. Cycling the route is possible but involves significant elevation gain through Marin County's hills. The creamery's website provides current hours and directions for both locations.

See Also

• Ferry Building Marketplace
• Point Reyes Station, California
• American Cheese Society
• Chez Panisse
• San Francisco cuisine
• Straus Family Creamery