Meet Our New Creamery Director

Ricardo Gutierrez

What do you get when you mix a historic dairy farm and an experienced food engineer? Thankfully, we won’t have to wait long to find out. 

Ricardo Gutierrez joined W.D. Hoard and Sons Co. in 2023 as the Creamery Director and has wasted no time in applying his talents and expertise to our cheese production process. 

As a practiced cheesemaker who studied in Europe and Mexico before making Wisconsin his home, Ricardo came to us with an abounding background and a salient vision. He is not interested in complacency. He sees beyond what’s before him, what is, to what can be, and is thus equipped to lead Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese to the peak of its potential.

“When I was in Mexico and with other companies, I was making cheese the whole week. I enjoy this position at Hoard’s Dairyman because it is cheesemaking, but it is also research and development, sales and shipment – lots of new things. It keeps me busy,” Gutierrez said.

During our conversation, I couldn’t help but believe as sincerely as he did in the possibilities embedded within Hoard’s Dairyman as a company and as a leader in cheesemaking. His energy was palpable and infectious. 

“We’re looking to expand our reach and develop new recipes. We’re hoping to be able to export our cheese to Mexico, too,” he said.

Gutierrez was quick to credit the Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Guernsey herd for the quality of our Creamery cheese. The herd’s milk is made up of about 4.8% to 5.2% fat, as opposed to the 3.8% to 4.0% fat of Holstein herds, on average. 

With quality milk — and quality leadership — comes quality cheese. Gutierrez has only been with Hoard’s Dairyman for the better part of a year, but his leadership transcends date-of-hire. He’s still mid-jump in a boundless surge forward, and he’s bringing all of us at Hoard’s and all of you, our faithful cheese-lovers, with him. 

Look for more about what Ricardo is bringing to the table in future Creamery Notes issues, and order your own variety of Hoard’s Dairyman Farm Creamery cheese at hoardscreamery.com.