Francois Delabruere, or Uncle Francis around here, first started making cheese in the mid 1970's as a teenager at the Kraft factory that was located in North Troy, VT. After graduating from North Country High School in Newport, VT, he joined the Army as a Food Service Specialist, and was stationed inside the Rocky Mountains at the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in Colorado Springs.
From there, he went on to earn a degree in Culinary Sciences from the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, NY before returning to Vermont to marry Merle's sister Sandy, bringing him into the Young family. He spent 27 years working for the US Postal Service, as a mail carrier, clerk, manager, and finally as the Post Master of the North Troy, VT Post Office.
Francis thought he was retired when we asked him in 2018 if he would like to get trained to be our head cheese maker. We are delighted that he agreed and joined the family business here at 5 Generations. With his knowledge of food safety and production, Francis has taken to cheese making with enthusiasm and pride, strengthening our family bonds and creating delicious, wholesome food we are delighted to now share with your family."
Neville McNaughton of Sanitary Design Industries (SDI) in St. Louis, MO is our cheese guru. With 50 years of cheese making and cheese technology education and experience, Neville is a master cheese maker who has assisted hundreds of creameries around the US and internationally. He and his wife Brenda's company, SDI, offers creamery design, equipment sourcing, cheese recipe development, and technical assistance to some of the most famous artisan creameries in the country.
Sometimes referred to as Dr. Cheese, Neville is "widely considered the premier dairy technology expert in the world (James Norton & Becca Dilley, 'The Master Cheese Makers of Wisconsin')." Neville, along with Jasper Hill Farm's creamery architect James Coe, helped us design our facility, source our equipment, and develop our recipes. We are beyond grateful for his and his' team's invaluable expertise and assistance and honored to now consider him a friend.
