MONROE - It starts with a hankering for good food, makes its way on the heels of a trending business model and ends in a pleasant surprise at your doorstep. It's not
unfamiliar. It's cheese.
Yankee Hollow is a new business offering monthly subscription services for cheese lovers. The company, created by former Groupon executives Kristi Klemm and R.J. Yozwiak, deals in a range of artisanal cheeses and made its first shipments in mid-August featuring products from Chalet Cheese Co-op. Klemm, a Monroe native who currently lives in Chicago, said Yankee Hollow carries three to five different types of cheese from select U.S. artisans each month, striving to offer its customers more than just good food.
"As this foodie culture takes over, especially in larger cities where more people don't necessarily know where their food comes from or where to get good food, we're looking to draw a direct line from the cheesemakers (to our customers)," Klemm said. "We're looking to educate our customers on where our products come from and how they're made."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow prides itself on information by including recipes and in-depth descriptions about the cheeses and cheesemakers in every box. She said the company works with beer aficionados, wine experts and food bloggers to create the recipes as well as custom beverage pairings. The company provides additional information about the products in emails and newsletters, sharing photos, videos and reviews with subscribers.
Klemm came up with the idea while reading an article about cheesemaker Myron Olson of Chalet Cheese. She said she realized how few people know where to turn for standout cheeses, and her research confirmed there wasn't much out there for cheese lovers in terms of discovery or subscription services.
"It's really just about connecting people with where their food came from and kind of cutting out the middle men," she said. "Finding cheese in a grocery store can be a daunting task. You don't know what's good or where it comes from, necessarily, from the label. But with us, you know exactly where it's coming from."
Klemm said the subscription food business model has "gotten pretty big in the last couple of years," and that more and more customers look forward to the unexpected.
"I personally really like the surprising delight of getting something each month," Klemm said. "It's like a gift you've bought yourself, you just don't know what it is."
Klemm grew up on a dairy farm in Monroe and named the company after her great-great grandfather Fred Gempler's Limburger cheese plant, Yankee Hollow, which she said was located in the Darlington area in the late-1800s. Klemm said her family "always had a ton of cheese in the refrigerator," and that she's excited to "start a company that brings everything back to what I grew up with."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow will have several cheeses from Green County and southern Wisconsin. This month the company is featuring Maple Leaf Cheese and in October will feature Red Rock cheese from Shullsburg-based Roelli Cheese Company.
"It's pretty cool being able to expose products I grew up with to people who don't know about it yet," Klemm said.
The company, still in start-up mode, plans to feature seasonal cheeses at times and may occasionally let its customers curate the boxes. Klemm said some packages will also feature products from multiple cheesemakers in the future.
"We'll obviously be heavy in southern Wisconsin (cheeses), especially the Green County area, because of the concentration of cheesemakers," she added. "But we'll be featuring the work of others outside the state as well."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow's variety is something cheese lovers from any part of the country can look forward to, including herself. "As I've grown, my palate has changed. I like some pretty aggressive flavors; I really like Limburger a lot.
"But I don't think there's a cheese I don't like."
Klemm and Yozwiak met in 2011 while working at Groupon in Chicago and left the daily deal company in 2012 to pursue independent endeavors like Yankee Hollow. Yozwiak is a former sales leader for the Washington D.C. market and currently oversees operations and logistics for Isolate It! and RX Sorbo. Klemm left her role as head of merchant marketing at Groupon to provide marketing consulting services for startups and tech companies.
More information about the new business as well as an infographic timeline of key moments in cheese history can be found at the
company's website Yankeehollow.com.
unfamiliar. It's cheese.
Yankee Hollow is a new business offering monthly subscription services for cheese lovers. The company, created by former Groupon executives Kristi Klemm and R.J. Yozwiak, deals in a range of artisanal cheeses and made its first shipments in mid-August featuring products from Chalet Cheese Co-op. Klemm, a Monroe native who currently lives in Chicago, said Yankee Hollow carries three to five different types of cheese from select U.S. artisans each month, striving to offer its customers more than just good food.
"As this foodie culture takes over, especially in larger cities where more people don't necessarily know where their food comes from or where to get good food, we're looking to draw a direct line from the cheesemakers (to our customers)," Klemm said. "We're looking to educate our customers on where our products come from and how they're made."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow prides itself on information by including recipes and in-depth descriptions about the cheeses and cheesemakers in every box. She said the company works with beer aficionados, wine experts and food bloggers to create the recipes as well as custom beverage pairings. The company provides additional information about the products in emails and newsletters, sharing photos, videos and reviews with subscribers.
Klemm came up with the idea while reading an article about cheesemaker Myron Olson of Chalet Cheese. She said she realized how few people know where to turn for standout cheeses, and her research confirmed there wasn't much out there for cheese lovers in terms of discovery or subscription services.
"It's really just about connecting people with where their food came from and kind of cutting out the middle men," she said. "Finding cheese in a grocery store can be a daunting task. You don't know what's good or where it comes from, necessarily, from the label. But with us, you know exactly where it's coming from."
Klemm said the subscription food business model has "gotten pretty big in the last couple of years," and that more and more customers look forward to the unexpected.
"I personally really like the surprising delight of getting something each month," Klemm said. "It's like a gift you've bought yourself, you just don't know what it is."
Klemm grew up on a dairy farm in Monroe and named the company after her great-great grandfather Fred Gempler's Limburger cheese plant, Yankee Hollow, which she said was located in the Darlington area in the late-1800s. Klemm said her family "always had a ton of cheese in the refrigerator," and that she's excited to "start a company that brings everything back to what I grew up with."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow will have several cheeses from Green County and southern Wisconsin. This month the company is featuring Maple Leaf Cheese and in October will feature Red Rock cheese from Shullsburg-based Roelli Cheese Company.
"It's pretty cool being able to expose products I grew up with to people who don't know about it yet," Klemm said.
The company, still in start-up mode, plans to feature seasonal cheeses at times and may occasionally let its customers curate the boxes. Klemm said some packages will also feature products from multiple cheesemakers in the future.
"We'll obviously be heavy in southern Wisconsin (cheeses), especially the Green County area, because of the concentration of cheesemakers," she added. "But we'll be featuring the work of others outside the state as well."
Klemm said Yankee Hollow's variety is something cheese lovers from any part of the country can look forward to, including herself. "As I've grown, my palate has changed. I like some pretty aggressive flavors; I really like Limburger a lot.
"But I don't think there's a cheese I don't like."
Klemm and Yozwiak met in 2011 while working at Groupon in Chicago and left the daily deal company in 2012 to pursue independent endeavors like Yankee Hollow. Yozwiak is a former sales leader for the Washington D.C. market and currently oversees operations and logistics for Isolate It! and RX Sorbo. Klemm left her role as head of merchant marketing at Groupon to provide marketing consulting services for startups and tech companies.
More information about the new business as well as an infographic timeline of key moments in cheese history can be found at the
company's website Yankeehollow.com.