It's All About The Cheese, Famous Thunder Oak Gouda

Famous, locally made Gouda has become world famous!

By Heather Peden Heather Peden is a writer, blogger and photographer living in Neebing, Ontario.

August 26, 2014

The Thunder Oak Cheese Farm is a place many visitors stop when they visit Thunder Bay to sample this famous, locally made cheese. Thunder Oak gouda has developed an international recognition which draws people to the farm’s rural location in the Slate River Valley on Boundary Road just south of Thunder Bay. As local writer Heather Peden, explains it all about the cheese….

New Look, Same Great Cheese

thunder oak front — When I step in to the new

Thunder Oak Cheese Farm store, I am struck by its size. It is big and bright and open. Light pours in through the large west facing windows across café tables decorated with posies of fall flowers.

Beneath the soaring ceiling, this brand new store is filling up with the imported Dutch treats and goodies found in the original store. There are candies and cookies and spices, jams and ceramics and tea towels, but what I am looking for, and what most people who venture out to the Slate River Valley come for, is the cheese.

thunder oak welcome — And then I spot them across the store, those rows of boxes that line the counter beside the display case of cheese wheels, their lids thrown open to reveal the little jewels of cheese samples inside. There’s the mild, medium and old Gouda of course, but just next to those is a host of inspired flavours; Gouda with the bite of Jalapeno, or the warm spiciness of Cumin, or the earthy tastes of Nettle, but there is also the sophisticated subtlety of Smoked Gouda and the creamy, layered flavours of the Swiss, and there are cheese Curds too. These, I am told, are in very high demand by many of the local

Thunder Bay restaurants that serve Thunder Oak Cheese.

thunder oak sign 330 — There could be a number of reasons why this award-winning cheese is so good. It could be because it is made right on the farm beside the Holsteins who give their milk, or it could be because no preservatives or colourings are added to the cheese, it could even be the fresh air and breathtaking views of the Slate River Valley, but it is probably because the

Schep family who makes the cheese, and have been making it in on the outskirts of Thunder Bay since 1995, love what they do.

They love it so much in fact they have had to expand their operations to accommodate the growing demand for their cheese. Hence the new store, complete with ample parking space and a much larger area for increased cheese production. And for your convenience, you can order your Thunder Oak Cheese online.

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About Heather Peden

Heather Peden is a writer, blogger and photographer living in Neebing, Ontario, a rural neighbouring municipality south of Thunder Bay. Heather has a passion for what she calls “life in the wilds of Northwest Ontario”, and it's reflective in her blog, “Three Dogs and a Couch,” and photoblog “Light Sifting.”