The Holzhofer might not be one of the most familiar names in our portfolio, but we absolutely think it is a gem: A relatively small wheel that is packed with flavors, a cheese with a real kick in the end thanks to 8 months of aging in a former beer cellar. And it definitively comes from a very special place.

The Holzhof farm in Bissegg is a direct link from the past to the future. Having a reputation as a farm, beer brewery, restaurant and starch production a dairy was built at the Holzhof in 1869, and from there on it was only agriculture and cheese making. The first Tilsit was produced there in 1893.

Now Otto Wartmann is the fifth generation cheese maker. And few operations in the world are as environmental conscious as the Holzhof where the philosophy is to leave the least traces possible: from gras/hay to milk to cheese, the whey to feed the pigs, to the manure that is used as fertilizer and produces electricity. The Holzhof produces more electricity than it needs, the overproduction goes into the community's power net. We say: Hats off!