The Chocolate & Cheesemaker

David Gremmels / Rogue Creamery
Central Point, Oregon

In 2002 David Gremmels discovered a fledgling creamery in Central Point, Oregon on the brink of closure. He loved their hand-crafted bleu cheese, so he did what any dairy-loving Oregonian with a dream would do: he and a partner bought the historic facility, founded by the Rogue River Valley Creamery Cooperative in 1928.

Over the past seven years, the creamery has increased production, developed new cheeses, and garnered more than 100 trophies and ribbons in competitions around the world. Rogue Creamery made history when Rogue River Blue became the first American blue cheese to win World’s Best Blue at the World Cheese Awards in London in 2003.  Rogue Creamery’s entire line of blue cheese was awarded “World’s Outstanding Product Line” at the 2006 NASFT International Fancy Food Annual Product Awards.

Also a passionate voice for the artisan cheese movement in the United States, David facilitated the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s regulatory guidelines allowing American raw milk cheeses to be exported outside the country.  In 2007 Rogue Creamery made history again becoming the first to export raw milk American cheese to the European Union. In March 2009 David was inducted into the Guilde des Fromagers, Paris, France.

Rogue Creamery is the first dairy and creamery to receive third party certification for sustainability through Food Alliance. Many of the qualities of Rogue Creamery’s cheeses come from the hormone-free milk it uses, which comes from a single source, the Rogue View Dairy in Grants Pass, Oregon.

Jeff Shepherd / Lillie Belle Farms
Central Point, Oregon

Jeff Shepherd dreams out loud. Actually, he has to, given that there's usually music blasting in his Central Point, Oregon "chocolate wonderland."  Jeff is the genius behind Lillie Belle Farms Hand Made Chocolates, equal parts Willy Wonka and savage Deadhead.
Jeff's willingness to take chances in the kitchen, along with his free spirit, have led him all over the West from Los Angeles to Seattle to Hawaii and finally to his current home in southern Oregon. A passionate chocolatier, Jeff began his candy career selling four flavors of hand-dipped truffles out of the trunk of his Jeep at farmers' markets throughout Oregon. Today he creates more than 60 exclusive flavors of chocolates, truffles, caramels, bars and toffee. Jeff also owns a small organic berry farm, which supplies the fruit he infuses into his ganaches and truffles.

Shepherd named Lille Belle Farms Handmade Chocolates for his daughter, Lillie, and his wife, Belle.  From its humble beginnings, Lillie Belle Farms has mushroomed into a nationally recognized artisan chocolate business with clients worldwide. Jeff's take-no-prisoners chocolate making has not gone unnoticed. He was the recipient of "Grand Prize" at the 2008 Scovie Awards in New Mexico, "Best Ganache" at the first "Emerging Chocolatier Competition" in 2004, voted  "Best Caramels in the West" by Sunset Magazine in 2007, and was named one of Martha Stewart's "Must Have Christmas Gifts" in 2006.