Together, We Thrive
Hi, I’m Shawn Fels, the owner and president of Portland Creamery. After a 12 year career in the cheese industry, I purchased Portland Creamery in 2018 with the express intent of eating most of the delicious cheese they produce. Since that time, Portland Creamery has been on a path of transformation with the ultimate goal of long term sustainability.
Portland Creameries Mission is:
To nourish our community by supplying delicious, nutritious, local, and ethically produced dairy products. To help precipitate our communities interest in ethical local agriculture. To remain steadfast in our pursuit of products which nurture ones love for food with every bite.
As a small, and local company, 2020 represented an incredibly difficult year for Portland Creamery. With more than half of our cheese being sold through restaurants and food service in 2019, the sales of Portland Creamery were cut in half overnight by the pandemic shutdowns. Additional hardships also came from a fire evacuation and an ice storm which blocked our cheesemakers from the completion of a batch of cheese due to road conditions.
In spite of the difficulties experienced over the last year and a half, Portland Creamery has continued to invest in long term success of the company. We have added many direct to consumer delivery options, started distribution to all Pacific Northwest Whole Foods Markets, and even launched new types of cheese with the express intent of supporting our Farmer by selling more milk even though these cheeses had to be sold at or below cost to move the volumes we created.
Portland Creamery is poised to continue producing delicious dairy products for our local community for many years into the future. The overwhelming takeaway from the last year is one of community and support from all of our beloved customers, suppliers, and peers.
We had our regulators with the Oregon Department of Agriculture offer trucks and trailers to move the animals from our farm during the fires.
We had business owners, previously unknown to me, work to collect and supply wind fall apples to our animals for free during a time that infrastructure couldn’t keep up with demands.
We had retailers and food delivery companies help to move extra cheese due to the shut down to ensure that it didn’t go bad
We had neighbors help to check on our creamery during the fires when we were unable to get in.
I have never been more proud of the community where I live, who banded together, not to make sure that they survived, but instead working to ensure that no one in our community failed.
I have never been more proud the employees who worked tirelessly to protect these wonderful products, ethical agriculture, the consumers who find joy in our products, and our suppliers who depend on us for their livelihood.
I have never felt more certain about cultural value of local agriculture, and I’m excited to continue moving toward a sustainable community focused future that includes the opportunity to continue to leverage relationships and support in our community.
In conclusion, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the community support which we have received. Looking toward the future, I realize that the value of our mission, and the necessity that we succeed is even more important today than ever before. As Portland Creamery moves forward, we now do it with a stronger tie to our community, and even more assurance that Portland Creamery will be supplying cheese to the Pacific Northwest for the next 100 years.