Cheesemakers Gary Smith and Joshua Hall purchase Leelanau Cheese
Photo of John and Anne Hoyt by Madeleine Hill Vedel
From staff reports
Leelanau Cheese founders John and Anne Hoyt have found successor cheesemakers Gary Smith and Joshua Hall to continue to produce their award winning, handcrafted raclette and fromage blanc cheeses upon their retirement. The sale of Leelanau Cheese Company—announced Saturday in a press release—includes all property, equipment, inventory, recipes and formulas at their location on M-22 south of Suttons Bay.
Read our feature story from 2019 by Madeleine Hill Vedel about how the Hoyts weathered a rural dairy exodus as Leelanau Cheese turned 25 years old.
The Hoyts are pioneers in the local food movement in northwest lower Michigan. Their many loyal fans have followed their remarkable story and their efforts to preserve Leelanau Cheese. The answer was found in these two co-workers from Michigan State University (MSU) in East Lansing.
Gary Smith provides a strong foundation in cheese making operations. He received his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in food science from MSU. He has served as a quality assurance manager and food safety officer at the MSU Dairy Plant and is a dairy processing extension specialist helping other dairy processors
throughout the State.
Joshua Hall is an award-winning cheese maker with distinguished recognition from the American Cheese Society as a Certified Cheese Professional. He received an AAS from Lansing Community College and for more than 10 years has been a coordinator and supervisor of dairy operations at MSU’s Dairy Complex. He is
proficient in the operation and maintenance of pasteurization and homogenization equipment and coordinating dairy related research.
Gary and Josh convinced John and Anne that they would be the best inheritors of Leelanau Cheese Company preserving both quality and tradition. They then needed
to find additional investors. A group of local residents with their own long-term participation in the artisan food movement, including Idyll Farms of Northport, stepped forward to support the new team and to reward the Hoyts for what they have created.
Leelanau Cheese Company will continue to serve as an anchor artisan cheese producer within our growing regional cheesemaking community.
