Oma is Coming Home!
For all the Oma fans who have loved her for so many years and have been missing her the past few months. we have an exciting announcement….
After 15 years of collaboration with Jasper Hill, we’re transitioning to making and aging Oma in our cellars here at the farm. This decision comes after months of conversations and planning with our friends at the Cellars, and is an important step in strengthening our farm and community for generations to come. Sign up for our email list to be the first to know when she is available in our online store.
Erika "Oma" von Trapp
Erika von Trapp, Sebastian’s Oma & the namesake of our first cheese, is our matriarch. It was her passion for agriculture that inspired her and Werner von Trapp to purchase our family’s farm in 1959.
She was also one of our earliest and most passionate supporters of our cheesemaking vision for the family farm. Erika only had one playful complaint for her grandson Sebastian. In her thick Austrian accent she would implore him, “Basty, why did you name a stinky cheese after me?!”
We’ve had a long partnership with Jasper Hill, beginning with Sebastian working at their original creamery in anticipation of starting our farmstead creamery. This was even before the Cellars were built!
Top: Oma in moulds at von Trapp Farmstead
Bottom: Aged Oma at Jasper Hill
We debuted Oma, our first cheese, in 2009, and it was one of the very first cheeses to be ripened by the Cellars. For 15 years, we sent young Oma to the Cellars and continuously collaborated to develop Oma and make her the cheese she is today.
Since the start of our partnership with Jasper Hill, we’ve built aging space on the farm and developed our line-up of other cheeses - Mt Alice, Savage, and Mad River Blue. Simultaneously, Jasper Hill was (and is still!) expanding their product line and innovating their cheesemaking and ripening at the Cellars.
A lot has changed in the last few years and like so many other folks, we’ve had to reassess the shape of our business.
Bringing Oma back to the farm is an important part of our new shape, and yet the heart of our business remains the same. We continue our commitment to farming at a scale that is right-sized for our farm, our family, and our community, so that our legacy may continue for generations to come.
The first batches of “on-farm” Oma will be ready around the beginning of November. Sign up for our email list to be the first to know when she is available online!
