Baetje Farms
Dairy - Bloomsdale, Missouri, United States
Baetje Farms Employees
Baetje Farms Details
Baetje Farms, pronounced "Bay-G", began when co-founders Steve and Veronica Baetje bought their first goat just over 20 years ago. As a hobby, they sought out the best way to make French inspired "Pure Artisan Farmstead" goat cheeses. Shortly after, they shared 88 heart shaped pieces of chevre with the public for the first time at the St. Louis Wine Festival. When the line was wrapped around the building for people wanting to try the cheese and they ran out, they knew they were on to something. Since then, Baetje Farms have won over 70 national and international awards for their cheese and is distributed throughout the Unites States. Baetje Farms is nestled between Southeast Missouri's rolling hills and a natural spring fed creek in the Forche du Clos Valley. We are located 3 miles off Interstate 55 just south of St. Louis at the entrance to Missouri Wine Country in Bloomsdale, MO. The area is one of the oldest settlements west of the Mississippi River as French settlers came down the Mississippi River from Canada in the early 1700s and stopped here for diversity of the land and rich soil conditions for growing crops. Our barn began as a Sears and Roebuck kit barn, built by our neighbor's uncle in 1912. Our cheese making facility is built to produce small quantities of cheese coupled with state-of-the-art aging facilities that produce exact temperature and humidity conditions. We use very fresh rennet and cultures that are imported from France and Denmark. The first cheese plant was added onto the barn in 2006 and a second addition in 2011 to meet demand. Who knows, we just may be added on again soon!
