welcome

Our story begins in 1901, when our great-grandfather Tobias Giacomini left Northern Italy with a dream of farming California's legendary fertile lands. That vision took root here in West Marin when our grandfather Waldo began farming in Point Reyes in 1942, and then our parents, Bob and Dean, purchased our dairy overlooking Tomales Bay and began producing milk for the local creamery in 1959.

Over the next four decades, our father grew the operation to over 500 cows, and the farm earned a reputation for producing exceptional quality milk. By the mid-1990s, it became clear that a dairy of that size was unsustainable on our 720 acres—placing too much strain on the land, the limited natural resources and the small team of employees. We needed to reimagine what our farm could be.

There's an expression in the Giacomini family: when life gives you four daughters, make cheese. Together we made a bold decision. We would reduce the herd and transform our conventional dairy into an artisan cheese company where we began crafting cheese from our own milk, right here on the farm.

In August 2000, we introduced our first wheels of Original Blue, California's only classic-style blue cheese to Bay Area customers. Twenty-five years later, we're still a small, family/sister-run operation, now in our fourth generation of farming this land.

Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese Company is how we honor our family's heritage, care for the land we love, and share our passion for farm-fresh food with cheese lovers across the country. Every wheel we make carries forward a legacy that spans more than a century—from Tobias' first dreams in Italy to the cheese you enjoy today.

For more on our family, enjoy Jane Pauley’s feature segment that aired on NBC’s Today show in July, 2013.

The first day of cheesemaking, August 1, 2000

Bob Giacomini, 1980

The Dairy, 1960