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The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) is a dairy
cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-contro ...
headquartered in Tillamook County,
Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idaho. T ...
, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the "Tillamook" brand name. Its main facility is the Tillamook Creamery, located two miles north of the city of
Tillamook Tillamook may refer to: Places: * Tillamook County, Oregon, United States * Tillamook, Oregon, a city, the seat of Tillamook County * Tillamook River, United States * Tillamook Bay, a bay in the northwestern part of Oregon * Tillamook Head, a natu ...
on U.S. Route 101. The 48th largest dairy processor in North America, Tillamook posted $1 billion in sales in 2021, the trade magazine ''Dairy Foods'' reports. TCCA employs nearly 900 people in Oregon and is the largest employer in Tillamook County. The brand is strongest in the West but sells in all 50 states. It routinely wins awards from the American Cheese Society and other groups. The co-operative includes nearly 60 dairy farms, mostly within Tillamook County. The cooperative markets a number of processed dairy products including cheese,
ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
,
butter Butter is a dairy product made from the fat and protein components of churned cream. It is a semi-solid emulsion at room temperature, consisting of approximately 80% butterfat. It is used at room temperature as a spread, melted as a condimen ...
,
sour cream Sour cream (in North American English, Australian English and New Zealand English) or soured cream (British English) is a dairy product obtained by fermenting regular cream with certain kinds of lactic acid bacteria. The bacterial culture, ...
, and
yogurt Yogurt (; , from tr, yoğurt, also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial fermentation of milk. The bacteria used to make yogurt are known as ''yogurt cultures''. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bac ...
, some of which is manufactured by the cooperative itself and other products which are produced under licensing agreements with various partner companies. Their most notable product is Tillamook cheese, including the most popular cheese: Tillamook
Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...
. In March 2010, Tillamook's Medium Cheddar cheese won the gold medal in the 2010 World Cheese Championship Cheese Contest hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association in Madison, Wisconsin. The cheese scored 99.6 out of 100 points possible, beating 59 other entries.


History

The Tillamook Valley was ideal for
dairy cattle Dairy cattle (also called dairy cows) are cattle bred for the ability to produce large quantities of milk, from which dairy products are made. Dairy cattle generally are of the species '' Bos taurus''. Historically, little distinction was ...
in the mid-19th century, but transporting the milk and butter over the mountains surrounding the valley was a problem. In 1854, several farmers from the county built a schooner named the ''Morning Star'' to transport butter to
Portland, Oregon Portland (, ) is a port city in the Pacific Northwest and the list of cities in Oregon, largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon. Situated at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, Columbia rivers, Portland is ...
; the schooner is now featured as part of the co-op's logo, and a replica (constructed in 1992 by master shipwright Richard Miles of Aberdeen, WA) is on display at The Tillamook Cheese Factory. Peter McIntosh and T. S. Townsend established the county's first cheese factory in 1894. The association was founded by ten independent creameries in 1909. TCCA hired an ad agency and began campaigning in 1917 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland. Under secretary-manager George R. Lawson (CEO- 1944-1950), the cooperative began producing rindless cheese in 1946 and bottled milk the following year. In 1949, partnering with four independent plants and with financing arranged through First National Bank, the Tillamook Cheese Factory north of Tillamook was built. The enlarged facility included a storage plant and traffic department. A second cheese-making facility, Columbia River Processing, Inc., was built in
Boardman, Oregon Boardman is a city in Morrow County, Oregon, United States on the Columbia River and Interstate 84. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,220. It is currently the largest town in Morrow County, Oregon. History Boardman was homesteaded ...
, in September 2001. Its production capacity doubled TCCA’s cheesemaking capabilities. In 2009, Tillamook County Creamery Association celebrated 100 years in business.


Tillamook Creamery

The Tillamook Cheese Factory, located at 4165 U.S. 101 North in
Tillamook, Oregon The city of Tillamook is the county seat of Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The city is located on the southeast end of Tillamook Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The population was 5,231 at the 2020 census. History The city is named for the ...
, is the Tillamook County Creamery Association's original cheese production facility. The Tillamook Cheese Factory also has a visitor center, the Tillamook Creamery, and hosts over 1.3 million tourists each year. Visitors can learn about the cheesemaking process, cheese packaging process, and the ice cream-making process from a viewing gallery over the main production floor. Tours are self-guided and self-paced, and are augmented by video presentations and interactive kiosks. Tours inside the actual cheese processing area of the plant were discontinued in 1967 due to health and safety regulations. The Tillamook Cheese Factory produces more than 170,000 pounds of cheese each day and packages approximately one million pounds of cheese on-site each week. The factory warehouse has the capacity to age 50 million pounds of cheese at once. The cooperative also operates the aforementioned cheesemaking facilities in
Boardman, Oregon Boardman is a city in Morrow County, Oregon, United States on the Columbia River and Interstate 84. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,220. It is currently the largest town in Morrow County, Oregon. History Boardman was homesteaded ...
and contracts some of its packaging and distribution to Marathon Cheese in Mountain Home, Idaho and Great Lakes Cheese in
Salt Lake City Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the capital and most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in Utah. With a population of 200,133 in 2020, th ...
.


Marketing

Tillamook had a "Loaf Love Tour" featuring customized
Volkswagen Volkswagen (),English: , . abbreviated as VW (), is a German motor vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. Founded in 1937 by the German Labour Front under the Nazi Party and revived into a global brand post-W ...
"Baby Loaf" busses that sample cheese at grocery stores and community events. Tillamook commercials on television include its "Food Loves Tillamook" campaign, "Dairy Done Right" campaign, and "Goodbye Big Food, Hello Real Food" campaign. Tillamook sponsored the Grilled Cheese Invitational in 2010 and 2011.


Controversy

TCCA bought the cheese cooperative in
Bandon, Oregon Bandon () is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown ...
, in 2000. After buying the Bandon Cheese factory and its brand name, Tillamook's lawyers warned several South Coast businesses with "Bandon" in their names that they might need to make a "content change" to avoid confusion with the cheese. This controversy made international news, particularly in 400-year-old
Bandon, Ireland Bandon (; ) is a town in County Cork, Ireland. It lies on the River Bandon between two hills. The name in Irish means 'Bridge of the Bandon', a reference to the origin of the town as a crossing point on the river. In 2004 Bandon celebrated its ...
, where residents have milked cows for generations. The cooperative ran into additional controversy in 2004 with its attempted enforcement of the Tillamook Cheese and Bandon Cheese
trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from othe ...
s against local businesses such as Tillamook Country Smoker, a purveyor of jerky and smoked meats for over 30 years. The creamery tried to stop the meat company from using the name "Tillamook". In that 2004 case, a federal judge ruled that Tillamook Country Smoker could register its name as a trademark, but that Tillamook Country Smoker could not use or register the Tillamook Jerky mark. The move that garnered Tillamook the most nationwide attention, though, came in 2005 after a slew of consumer inquiries about dairies' use of a genetically engineered
bovine growth hormone Bovine somatotropin or bovine somatotrophin (abbreviated bST and BST), or bovine growth hormone (BGH), is a peptide hormone produced by cows' pituitary glands. Like other hormones, it is produced in small quantities and is used in regulating m ...
designed to boost milk production. The
U.S. Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a federal agency of the Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is responsible for protecting and promoting public health through the control and supervision of food ...
had said milk products derived from cows injected with the hormone were safe, but consumer worries about potential cancer risks persisted. Over objections from some member farmers and from biotechnology giant
Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in ...
, which manufactured the hormone, Tillamook County Creamery Association voted to require all of its dairy suppliers to phase out its use. Tillamook was one of the first big national dairy brands to make such a decision. In early 2018, a large "mega-dairy" near
Boardman, Oregon Boardman is a city in Morrow County, Oregon, United States on the Columbia River and Interstate 84. As of the 2010 census the population was 3,220. It is currently the largest town in Morrow County, Oregon. History Boardman was homesteaded ...
, producing milk for Tillamook, was fined and ultimately sued by the state of Oregon for repeated violations of its wastewater permit. The mega-dairy, Oregon's second-largest, was approved by state regulators for 30,000 cows in early 2017, despite opposition from local and national environmental and animal welfare groups, as well as small-farm advocates. Shortly after state regulators sued the facility, Tillamook stated that it had terminated its contract, but continued to purchase milk from the operation.


References


External links

* {{Authority control Agricultural marketing cooperatives Agriculture in Oregon Food and drink companies based in Oregon American companies established in 1909 Food and drink companies established in 1909 Culture of the Pacific Northwest Oregon Coast Organizations based in Oregon Tillamook County, Oregon Tourist attractions in Tillamook County, Oregon 1909 establishments in Oregon Dairy cooperatives Dairy products companies of the United States Agricultural cooperatives in the United States B Lab-certified corporations