Ballerino Creamery

The Shenandoah Valley was once a center for dairy processing. Milk from family-run dairies flowed into town to be transformed into bottled milk, ice cream, butter, buttermilk and cheese. Today, small-scale dairies have largely disappeared from the Valley because of economic pressures and an outdated system of milk pricing. Most remaining dairy farms are obligated to sell to a coop, and these coops have little incentive to keep or support these farms. Fewer and fewer young people are entering the dairying profession.

Ballerino Creamery came to life to give farms an alternative to the coop model--a place to sell milk directly. This elevates a farm from anonymous to recognized and accountable.

Head cheesemaker and co-owner Louella Hill cares not only about keeping family-scale dairying in the Valley, but also about the ancient art of cheesemaking. She started making cheese two decades ago on a farm in Italy. Since then she's worked in creameries, taught cheesemaking, written about cheesemaking, and even serves as a judge for the American Cheese Society (where she is forced to eat thousands of pieces of cheese). She is into cheese.

We make our cheeses using only local, high quality milk that is guaranteed to be antibiotic and hormone-free. We emphasize their 'handcrafted' nature and we work to produce cheeses that are unique, beautiful, nutritious and inspiring. Please help us "spread the cheese" word on Instagram and Facebook by using the hashtag #ballerinocreamery. A small scale business needs the support of its community--and we deeply appreciate it.

We are honored to make a nutrient-dense, fermented food that supports the land, the animals and the people of the Shenandoah Valley.