Today we’d like to introduce you to Sarah Clemens

Hi Sarah, it’s an honor to have you on the platform. Thanks for taking the time to share your story with us – to start maybe you can share some of your backstory with our readers?

Though I didn’t know it at the time, the first little seed for Noble Rind was planted in the early 2000’s. I had gotten a job at a small women owned business that specialized in local food and it was my very first experience working with specialty cheese. Right away a fire was ignited for learning more about where all of our food was coming from but especially the little farmstead creameries I had never heard of. After many years of studying and working in cheese & moving to Wisconsin. Getting married and having babies. A pandemic. I decided, why not start my own small business! An idea that truly had never crossed my mind before. A radical act of hope I suppose? Most of the cheese shops you come across in WI are selling mass produced cheese, pre cut and wrapped in plastic. I wanted to sell cheese in a way where people could taste it before they purchased it. I knew our foodie farm to table community was hungry for more. I wanted to highlight our small family dairy farms and get away from wrapping this treasured nutrition in plastic wrap! By 2019 we had gotten pretty excited about this idea and by February of 2022 we open the doors to Noble Rind Cheese Shop.

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?

I think we were actually really fortunate to be starting our business at at the time that we did. Society was just starting to put itself back together after a devastating pandemic. Prices were high. Labor was scarce. We started out at a time where the going was pretty tough, if we could make it work then we could probably find success. Our biggest surprise was that when we originally wrote our business plan it was just me, a cooler full of cheese and a knife. A small retail selection and a cash register. One to two employees max. However, we quickly realized this was not a solid plan. We new we wanted to have a few sandwiches and small plates to highlight the products we had in the store. This somehow turned into a decent size menu and many more staff members. The food really took off. Now I was learning how to operate a business, manage staff, teach everyone how to run a cheese counter and run a small restaurant? It was crazy, all consuming, exhausting, scary and thrilling. Each day and week that passed we figured out more and more what we were doing. It is such and intense learning curve but a very rewarding one.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?

Noble Rind is a cut to order cheese shop that specializes in American Farmstead cheeses. It is our absolute favorite cheese to eat and sell. We actively search out the farms that are raising their animals with sustainable farming in mind and excellent animal husbandry. That being said, we still carry some of the tried and true Wisconsin classics as well as a few imported cheeses that have such a legacy and no real comparable version in the United States. History is important. Milk and nutrition is important. Access to food and representation is important. We are working to support the underdogs. The small farms. The makers who historically have had less access to farm land and passed down knowledge of the trade. We are hopeful that we can contribute to our healing food system one cheese board at a time.

All of our cheeses come wrapped in 100% compostable cheese paper instead of suffocating plastic.

I am forever enamored with the ancient history of fermented foods and I happily share this passion with anyone that will let me feed them cheese.

What sort of changes are you expecting over the next 5-10 years?

The future is looking bright! People are more and more every day educating themselves on where their food is coming from and how it is produced. Not only that but who they are buying it from. Purchasing your food from small farms and small businesses makes a huge impact on our communities. I think the American cheese industry will only continue to grow and develop. I hope many traditional dairy farmers may be supported in transition to making small batch cheeses and that their communities will support them.
There is a lot were up against in the farming and environmental world these days but there is also a lot of really smart people doing great work. There should be no reason that anyone is hungry. There should be no reason that holds people back from access to real nutritious food. My hope is through thoughtful science and modern technique we can make more and more raw cheeses and support the use of wild and natural yeasts and cultures unique to our own terroir. More grass-fed diets and roaming space for the animals. Ultimately, healthier and happier animals make better tasting cheese. There is a way to find solutions to our challenges. I hope to be a part of the solution.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.noblerind.com
• Instagram: @noblerind
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NobleRind

Image Credits

Jen Cassellius