Chapel Hill Creamery, which has been owned and operated by Flo Hawley and Portia McKnight for more than two decades, is being sold. Hawley and McKnight are both retiring from the business and selling the creamery to Reverence Farms, a 400-acre, 100 percent grass-fed dairy farm in Alamance County.

“Twenty-two years ago, Flo and I started the creamery with nine Jersey cows and a tiny cheesemaking building,” McKnight said. “Our herd has grown, our building has grown, our staff has grown, and now we are getting older. In considering all the possibilities for the creamery to continue to thrive without us being in full-time management positions, we believe that the path we’ve chosen with Reverence Farms is the ideal plan.”

Hawley and McKnight will assist Reverence Farms during a three-year transition, when Reverence will assume day-to-day management, master recipes and complete the purchase of the creamery. Creamery cheese will continue to be marketed under the Chapel Hill Creamery brand and sold at area markets and restaurants.

Hubert Karreman, one of the owners of Reverence Farms, is a licensed veterinarian. He served on the National Organic Standards Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture for five years. Reverence Farms is one of just two remaining dairy farms in Alamance County.

 

Featured image via Chapel Hill Creamery


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