Our History

Contributing to New York State’s High-Quality Dairy Food Reputation Since 1876.

Since 1876  McCadam has fundamentally contributed to New York State’s high-quality dairy food reputation. As one of the oldest cheese making operations in the US, growth was enhanced by the Erie Canal and access to the Hudson River. Only a handful of yesterday’s cheese producers have stood the test of time. The McCadam Cheese Company is one of them — today, 140 years later –  McCadam’s New York State Cheese continues success with award-winning cheeses.

Heuvelton, New York

McCadam Cheese Company, Inc.. was established in 1876 by William McCadam in the small community of Heuvelton, New York. His cheese making expertise was first recognized nationally by winning the first medal at the Chicago Exposition in 1894. In 1950, during the “Great Depression,” McCadam reorganized and expanded its cheese manufacturing to a facility in Chateaugay, New York, which is our primary cheese manufacturing facility today.

Northeast Farm Families

In 2003, Agri-Mark, the leading dairy farmer cooperative in the Northeast merged with the McCadam Cheese company The Agri-Mark family also owns the award-winning Cabot Creamery and the Agri-Mark dairy and whey protein brands. Together, McCadam and Cabot represent the member farm-families in America’s Northeast.

Today, over a century since William McCadam founded the cheese company, McCadam has the capability to manufacture 20 different cheeses. Whether it is Muenster or Adirondack Wicked Sharp, McCadam continues to offer New York’s finest cheeses. There are 126 full-time employees making 150,000 lbs. of cheese a day.  Milk from the farmers who own McCadam comes from families nurturing as many as 2,000 cows to Amish families with as few as 20 cows.

Meet our farm families

Looking Forward

By 2019, thanks to investment by the Empire State Development office, the farmers plant in Chateaugay will increase capacity for milk handling and cheese production by 30%.

McCadam’s history of survival under various owners is now secure because of the investment of money and time by the farm families who own the brand and the employees who in many cases have devoted their entire adult lives to the production of world class cheese.

Our Award-Winning Cheeses