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zingermans Creamery ann arbor michigan

History

Way back in 2001, Zingerman’s Creamery got its start making our Real Cream Cheese®, an enduring Ann Arbor favorite which has been hailed by Cook’s Illustrated for “its full flavor and well-rounded balance between saltiness, tanginess, and creaminess.” We specialize in making cow’s and goat’s milk cheeses, gelato, and sorbets. We make everything in small batches with the best local milk from small farmers who share our passion for quality and tradition.

We preserve the incredible flavor of the fresh milk we receive by using old-world techniques coupled with the most precious of resources, time. All of our cheeses are hand-ladled to preserve the delicate characteristics of the curd and we use uncommonly-long sets to draw out a full, complex flavor and a low-heat, long pasteurization to maintain that flavor.

    Zingerman's Creamery Opens

  • John Loomis, Dave Carson, Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw open Zingerman’s Creamery on a farm in Manchester, MI

  • At our outset, we established a relationship with Calder Family Dairy to source our cow’s milk, and we’re thrilled to be working with them to this day, bringing in exceptionally flavorful cow’s milk for both cheese and gelato.

  • We are the 5th business in the Zingerman’s Community of Businesses

    First Product

  • Our very first product is our Real Cream Cheese, based on a historic recipe which boasts a deeper flavor and better texture than any Cream Cheese available on the market. Our very first customer for that cheese is Zingerman’s Delicatessen.

  • John traveled to Italy and learned to make gelato, and Zingerman’s Creamery begins making tradition gelato and sorbet.

    First Award at ACS

  • Our Real Cream Cheese wins 1st in Category A at the American Cheese Society Conference in the summer of 2003

    Second Award at ACS

  • Sharon Hollow with Garlic & Chive wins 3rd in Category KG at ACS 2003

  • As demand for our products grows, we move from the small farmhouse in Manchester to a facility just south of Ann Arbor, MI, becoming the original American “urban creamery”

    Another Award Winning Year

  • Little Napoleon wins 2nd in Category DG at ACS 2005
    Lincoln Log wins 2nd in Category UG at ACS 2005

    Our Detroit Brick wins Bronze

  • Detroit St. Brick wins 3rd in Category KP at ACS 2006

    Awards and New Crew

  • Detroit St. Brick wins 3rd in Category KP at ACS 2007
    Little Napoleon wins 3rd in Category UG at ACS 2007
    Aubrey joins the creamery crew November 2007

    New Sources for Goat's Milk

  • We begin sourcing our goat’s milk from HK/New Era goat dairy in Onondaga, MI, bringing in small loads of gently-handled goat’s milk each week. From HK/New Era: In October [2011], we began shipping the milk that was not needed at Hickory Knoll Farms Creamery to a creamery in Ann Arbor for substantially more money than the broker had been paying.

    Aubrey is made Managing Partner

  • Aubrey becomes a Managing Partner of Zingerman's Creamery and Zingerman's Cream Top Shop in 2012 after working in the Creamery for five years.


    Detroit Brick wins it's 3rd Award

  • Detroit St. Brick wins 3rd in Category BF at ACS 2012 - it’s third total award

    Aubrey travels to learn Affinage

  • Aubrey travels to St. Haon, France to work with Academie Opus Caseus to learn the fine art of Affinage, which is the study of cheese ripening and maturation.

    New Leadership

  • Aubrey becomes sole partner 2015 of Zingerman's Creamery and Cream Top Shop and ushers in a new era of technology and growth for the business.

    Consistency of Flavor

  • HK/New Era Goat Dairy has grown their mixed-breed herd of goats to the point where we can work with their milk and only their milk to make our award-winning goat’s milk cheeses. Having a single source for goat’s milk leads to a marked increase in quality and consistency.

    Cream Top Shop - Renovation

  • A complete renovation of our facility begins 2016, tearing everything down to the dirt beneath our floor!
    During our renovation, we partner with Michigan State University’s Dairy Lab to continue production of our cheeses.
    We continue to make gelato and sorbets in Ann Arbor during the renovation at a temporary food safe facility.
    Our retail shop closes during the renovation, and we completely reimagine what we want our shop to be.

    Aubrey Increases Her Ownership

  • Aubrey becomes 90% owner of Zingerman’s Creamery.

    Renovation Complete

  • Renovation complete April 2017 for the Cream Top Shop
    Cream Top Shop - Home of Zingerman’s Creamery opens April 29th, 2017

    Manchester Wins!

  • Manchester wins 2nd in Category BA at ACS 2017