Hilltopper Creamery & Farm Market
The Hilltopper Creamery & WKU Farm Market is a value-added retail location that displays farm fresh products produced alongside students as part of their hands-on educational experience within WKU’s Agriculture & Food Science Dept. We provide a variety of award-winning artisan cheeses, dry aged beef, greenhouse plants, and seasonal fruits & vegetables to be served to students on campus and directly to the community! Value-added products, direct consumer sales, and Agritourism are becoming an increasing percentages of farm profits.
This unit allots students the opportunity to fully immerse themselves in these areas by gaining experience in dairy transport & processing, food production, food safety, packaging, marketing, customer service, and sales (direct & online). Students gain a variety of guided Agritourism experiences through facility and farm tours, event management, community workshops, educational seminars, and conferences. In 2023, we participated in numerous community events and welcomed over 1,000 visitors for student and community tours, cheese making classes, guided cheese tastings, charcuterie board grazing events, and conferences.
Hilltopper Creamery
The Hilltopper Creamery was established to demonstrate that the small family dairy farm is not a relic of the past. Farmers aren’t required to manage a large herd to be successful because they can thrive by producing and selling value-added products. Our facility puts this concept into practice by producing up to 500 lbs. of award-winning artisan cheese a month from our 50-60 head milking operation and still having additional fluid milk to sell or create other dairy products in the future.
We co-hosted 2 community workshops alongside the Southeast Dairy Business Innovation Initiatives (SDBII) Program and the Dairy Product Association of Kentucky (DPAK), that welcomed dairy farmers and cheese makers from across the state and covered topics including foodborne illness, food safety hazards (biological, chemical, physical), pasteurization, plant cleanliness, and a hands-on day of cheese making.
Award Winning Artisan Cheese
Our award-winning cheeses are handmade by students guided by a skilled fromagère adept in the art of traditional small batch artisan caseiculture. In 2019 our inaugural debut at the Kentucky State Fair we earned a ribbon in every class entered! Bringing home 6 Blue Ribbons and 1 Gold Medal Award. The 2019 award-winning varieties are the Garlic & Dill Cheese Curds, Mild Cheddar, Aged Cheddar, Smoked Gouda, Cracked Black Pepper Cheddar, and Sharp Cheddar (Gold).
This foundation of excellence continued in 2022 where we brought home the Gold Medal Award for each of our 4 entries! The 2022 award winning varieties are the Fresh Cheese Curds (Gold), Colby (Gold), Mild Cheddar (Gold), and Jalapeño Pepper Jack (Gold).
We are proud to announce in 2023 we brought home 4 Blue Ribbons and 1 Gold Medal Award! This year’s winning varieties are the Mild Cheddar, all new recipe Taco Cheddar, all new recipe Garlic Cheddar, and updated recipe Jalapeño Pepper Jack (Gold).
Your support is the key ingredient to our success! THANK YOU!
New Product & Restock Alerts
Cheese
- Colby
- Gouda
- Jalapeno Pepper Jack
Meats
- Frozen Dry-Aged Beef
- Brisket
- Top-Round Steak
- Bottom Round Steak
- Bone-In Shank
- Ground Beef
- Pork
- Chops
- Whole Tenderloin
- Leg Roast
- Picnic Roast
- Ground
- Cubed
- Belly
- Leg Roast
Produce
- Strawberries
- Salad Greens
- Cabbage
- Sugar Snap Peas
Greenhouse Plants
- Seasonal
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