The Cabot Creamery Co-operative is an American

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

agricultural

marketing cooperative A retailers' cooperative is a type of cooperative which employs economies of scale on behalf of its retailer members. Retailers' cooperatives use their purchasing power to acquire discounts from manufacturers and often share marketing expenses. A r ...

, which is owned by more than 800 local dairy farmers in New England and upstate New York, and Agri-Mark Family Dairy Farms, Incorporated. Agri-Mark dates back to 1916 with the formation of its predecessor, the New England Milk Producers Association. The cooperative flourished during the twentieth century and in 1980 became Agri-Mark. A dozen years later Agri-Mark merged with Cabot Creamery Cooperative, thereby ensuring that Northeast dairy farmers would continue their ownership of a valuable, time-honored consumer brand -- Cabot. Naturally aged Vermont cheddar cheese and fresh creamery butter top the list of Cabot's best known products. In 2003, Agri-Mark merged with the Chateaugay Cooperative in Upstate New York and acquired the assets of McCadam Cheese, including a plant located in Chateaugay. McCadam manufactures award-winning New York Cheddar, Muenster and European-type cheeses.

History

The original plant had an investment of $3,700 in total, which was paid by 94 farmers in proportion to the number of cattle which each owned. The cooperative started out making butter with the excess milk produced, and began shipping its products south. In 1930, it started making cheese. By 1960, the cooperative had 600 member farmers, though the number of farms in Vermont and across the nation was steadily shrinking. Following a decline in membership, the Cabot Farmers Cooperative Creamery merged in 1992 with Agri-Mark, a cooperative of 1,800 farm families in

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and by the Canadian provinces ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, and was reincorporated as Cabot Creamery Cooperative Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Agri-mark. In 2008, there were about 400 Cabot farms in Vermont belonging to Agri-Mark. Cabot has facilities in numerous locations, including Cabot, Vermont, Route 100 in Waterbury, Vermont, and also has an official Cabot "sampling station" at the Quechee General Store located at 5573 Woodstock Road in

Quechee, Vermont Quechee is a census-designated place and one of five unincorporated villages in the town of Hartford, Windsor County, Vermont, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population of the CDP was 656. It is the site of Quechee Gorge on the Ottau ...

. Samples of Cabot products are also available at the Waterbury location as well as the Cabot Farmers' Village Store located at 3075 Main Street in Cabot, VT. In addition to the Cabot brand, Agri-Mark also owns McCadam Cheese, headquartered in

Chateaugay, New York Chateaugay is a town in Franklin County, New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the town population was 2,155. The name is derived from a location in France, which was applied to a local land grant. Within the town is a village also ...

. Established in 1876 by William McCadam in the small community of

Heuvelton, New York Heuvelton is a small rural, incorporated, village located in St. Lawrence County in the state of New York, United States. It is approximately southeast of the city of Ogdensburg, in the Town of Oswegatchie. It is the only village in the town. ...

, the company first gained national recognition winning the first medal at the

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordi ...

in Chicago in 1894. In 1934, during the midst of the "Great Depression" McCadam expanded its cheese manufacturing to a facility in Chateaugay, which is its primary cheese manufacturing facility today. McCadam merged with Agri-Mark/Cabot in 2003. , about 1,200 members were located throughout New England and upstate New York. Faced with a multitude of challenges ranging from low milk pricing, labor shortages and increased operating costs over the past decade, the cooperative lost nearly 400 farms. As of 2021, there are approximately 800 farms in the co-op. The

Rochdale Principles The Rochdale Principles are a set of ideals for the operation of cooperatives. They were first set out in 1844 by the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers in Rochdale, England and have formed the basis for the principles on which co-operativ ...

remain a part of the cooperative. Cabot markets its products nationally through regional supermarket chains, big box stores, and online through a relationship with Dakin Farm. ''

Wine Spectator ''Wine Spectator'' is an American lifestyle magazine that focuses on wine and wine culture, and gives out ratings to certain types of wine. It publishes 15 issues per year with content that includes news, articles, profiles, and general entertain ...

'' listed Cabot cloth-bound cheddar as one of "100 great cheeses" of the world in 2008. Also in 2008, Cabot Monterey Jack received an award from the

American Cheese Society The American Cheese Society (ACS) is a non-profit trade group for the American cheese industry that was founded in 1983. ACS promotes American cheeses, provides the industry with educational resources and networking opportunities and encourages ...

Ownership

As a co-op, Agri-Mark is a membership organization

incorporated in Delaware The Delaware General Corporation Law (Title 8, Chapter 1 of the Delaware Code) is the statute of the Delaware Code that governs corporate law in the U.S. state of Delaware. Adopted in 1899, the statute has since seen Delaware become the most im ...

on April 21, 1980. The members of the Agri-Mark cooperative, who supply Agri-Mark's equity capital and directly elect its directors, are not stockholders of record, so have no right under Delaware statutory law to inspect the corporation's books and records. Only the directors hold a share of stock, so are owners under Delaware law. The co-op retains much of the excess profit, up to $150,000 per farmer, as equity in the form of noninterest bearing loans. For farmers departing the co-op, this equity is repaid over seven years. Dividends in excess of the retained equity are returned to the members. The Delaware stock corporation signs yearly marketing agreements with the farmers who produce milk. They can decline to resign any producer without reason at the end of the contract.

Operations

In 1994, when the two companies merged, they had $30 million in sales. This reached $350 million in 2008. and combined Agri-Mark sales (for all products across all brands) reached nearly $1 billion in 2020.

Legal violations

On several occasions, Cabot has been penalized for pollution incidents by the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. In 2000, Cabot was cited for a "minor violation of tsindirect discharge permit and land use permit." In 2007, Cabot paid a $50,000 fine with an additional $50,000 funding of a Supplemental Environmental Projects. In 2007, Cabot also pleaded guilty to violating the

Clean Water Act The Clean Water Act (CWA) is the primary federal law in the United States governing water pollution. Its objective is to restore and maintain the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of the nation's waters; recognizing the responsibiliti ...

after an

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

spill killed thousands of fish in the

Winooski River The Winooski River (formerly the Onion River) is a tributary of Lake Champlain, approximately long, in the northern half of Vermont. Although not Vermont's longest river, it is one of the state's most significant, forming a major valley way from ...

, in July 2005. The spill destroyed all aquatic life for . In 2011, the

Vermont Attorney General The Vermont Attorney General is a statewide elected executive official in the U.S. state of Vermont who is elected every two years. It was created by an act of the Vermont General Assembly in 1790, repealed in 1797, and revived in 1904. The office ...

's office alleged that some Cabot products made in 2009 and 2010 could not be certified as free of rBST, a hormone that causes cows to produce more milk. Cabot settled with the state, agreeing not to make such representations, to pay a $65,000 fine, and to donate $75,000 worth of dairy products to local food banks.

References

External links