INDIANAPOLIS – Tulip Tree Creamery, a 10-year-old cheese-making company, was the only dairy business in Indiana to receive a Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) grant in the organization’s latest round of funding. Thirty seven grants were announced for upper and lower Midwest companies in June.

Tulip Tree will use the nearly $74,000 grant for a cheese cutting and packaging line, and to promote the sales of pre-cut pieces when they’re ready for distribution, according to Laura Davenport, the creamery’s co-owner.

“We found that there is an increasing demand for pre-cut and packaged aged specialty cheeses,” she explained. “Up to now, our capacity for this is very limited, so we can mainly only serve the local farmers markets with these. With the help of the grant, we can significantly expand our markets in many ways. The capacity increase allows us to expand to other regions.

“Offering pre-cut packaged can put us into stores which do not purchase full wheels, and we see that personnel shortages in stores are forcing stores to move away from or reduce the cut and pack, and start selling pre-packaged cheeses.”

Tulip Tree received a DBIA grant of $97,000 last year, which allowed the creamery to increase its cheese aging capacity for its specialty cheeses, Davenport said. That grant also allowed them to develop new aged cheeses, she added.

Davenport said the company sees great potential in growing the business with specialty artisan aged cheeses. These cheeses are very popular locally, have won several awards and have shown a growing interest nationally as they are sampling the products to their customers, she said.

Davenport and owner Fons Smits began production at Tulip Tree in spring 2014. They previously worked together at two other creameries before deciding to create Tulip Tree.

The company produces a variety of hand-made artisan cheeses, she noted. They make fresh cheeses; soft ripened, bloomy rind cheeses; washed rind cheeses; semi-soft wheels and long-aged semi-hard wheels.

“Our most popular cheese is Trillium – it’s a soft-ripened bloomy rind cheese that has won many awards in the U.S. as well as awards in Europe,” Davenport said. “We have about 15-20 distributors that distribute our products across the U.S. They distribute them to cheese shops, specialty markets, wine shops and restaurants. We also ship cheese boxes to people’s homes.”

Tulip Tree offers cheese-making classes – butter; fresh mozzarella; burrata and ricotta; gouda; and cheddar – at their facility on Thursdays and Saturdays. A small retail space within their classroom is open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m.

The milk Tulip Tree uses to make its cheese comes from Country Meadows in Hudson, Ind. Country Meadows is a 6th generation dairy farm. Tulip Tree has seven full-time employees, 10-14 part-time workers, and four interns that work for them for a year through Ohio State University.

Davenport said the grant likely saved Tulip Tree about five years in development.

“These programs have so much impact on a small business, and it goes much further than just the finances,” she pointed out. “These grants really have an influence on the future development of small creameries.

“Because of the grant we will soon offer two new products, and we are looking forward to offer our products to new customers and show them what great cheeses we produce here in Indiana.”

The grant program helps small businesses with limited financial means to expand their operations, Davenport said.

“Investments are typically only made in very small steps so to maintain a healthy cash flow.” she said. “However, this slows down the potential growth, and makes us miss out on opportunities. With the grant we are able to make the big jump at once, be less dependent on the requirements of the bank, therefore gives us much more flexibility in growing our business without immediately having a negative impact on our finances.”

Tulip Tree’s funding was part of $3.2 million in Dairy Business Builder grants announced June 11. DBIA is a partnership between the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association and the Center for Dairy Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The next DBIA grant application period begins in August 2024.

Other dairies in the Farm World primary readership area to receive grants were Baker’s Golden Dairy LLC, New Waterford, Ohio; Black Radish Creamery, Alexandria, Ohio; Florence Creamery, Little Hocking, Ohio; GoodSport Nutrition, Evanston, Ill.; JBS Farms LLC dba Kokoborrego, Mount Gilead, Ohio; Knueven Creamery, Leipsic, Ohio; MDF Foods LLC, Newton, Iowa; Michigan Cream & Sugar Ice Cream Co., Bay City, Mich.; Mills Farm, Oelwein, Iowa; Moore Family Farm Creamery, Maquoketa, Iowa; Mossy Creek Farm, Kalkaska, Michigan; Picket Fence Creamery, LLC Woodward, Iowa; Urban Stead Cheese Co., Cincinnati, Ohio; Wapsie Valley Creamery Inc., Independence, Iowa; and Watershed Foods LLC, Gridley, Ill.