Genesee County Agricultural and Farmland Protection Plan

APPENDIX C: AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY SUMMARIES
THE TILLAMOOK COUNTY CREAMERY ASSOCIATION:
A Case Study in Farmer Cooperation in Value-Added
The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) was organized in 1909 as a quality
control organization for ten cheese factories operating in Tillamook County Oregon.
Later, TCCA expanded to incorporate all 25 operating cheese factories in Tillamook
County. In 1918, TCCA originated an advertising program and was credited for being
the first community to brand its cheese and for advertising it under a brand name. TCCA
is a cooperative owned and operated by 150 dairymen, nearly all of who reside in
Tillamook County. The Tillamook area has proven to be ideal for dairy farming and is
home to more than 20,000 cows. The county receives more than 80 inches of rainfall
each year, providing lush green pastures.
TCCA has a raw milk supply of 175,000 gallons/day from 150 members that have herds
averaging 135 cows. The grazing dairies lead the nation in milk quality and have done
so for the past several years. The continued success of the TCCA is that it has the highest
quality product coming in and they do not cut corners in the production of their dairy
products. The highest quality milk and highest quality ingredients produce a winning
formula for the TCCA.
In 1963, a dispute arose among the members with some wanting to close the pool to
additional Grade A producers. The majority, however, favored continuing an open pool
policy. This resulted in a loss of some membership, but the open pool prevailed and the
Growth of Grade A milk production has continued. In January 1969, all members were
merged into one cooperative and the Association no longer was a federation of
cooperatives.
Since 1909, TCCA has matured into a national marketer of quality dairy products such as
naturally aged cheddar and a variety of other cheeses, butter, and an extensive line of
premium ice cream, sour cream and yogurt. The TCCA is now looking into expanding
its product line into bottled milk drinks. The retail appeal for the Tillamook brand is so
high that the TCCA receives more for their product than other brands at the wholesale
level.
Tillamook provides full color recipes and a full colored gift catalog that offers a variety
of gift packs with cheeses, preserves, nuts, sausages, popcorn, candy, cookies, smoked
beef, meat sticks and jerkys. The non-dairy items in the gift packs such as the processed
meats, preserves, cookies, etc. are not produced by the TCCA, however, they are
produced locally. The TCCA has formed a marketing alliance with the producers of
these goods to offer more variety in their gift packs.
This year, TCCA completed a 35 million pound capacity automated storage and retrieval
system (ASRS) cold storage warehouse, including a seven-bay shipping dock with
refrigerated staging areas, new shipping offices and a new electrical distribution and
refrigeration system.
Copyright©, 2000: Agricultural & Community Development Services, Inc, Columbia MD 8