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California Cheesemaker Shuts Down After 94-Year Run
New York Post ^ | Aug. 26, 2026 | Katie Jerkovich

Posted on 08/27/2026 1:15:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway

A nearly century-old Wine Country cheesemaker is closing its award-winning factory citing ongoing challenges since the Covid pandemic.

Vella Cheese in Sonoma County announced Monday that after 94 years it has made the “incredibly difficult decision” to cease production of its famous products.

“Our business has never fully recovered from the challenges of COVID, and the financial demands of operating a small, artisanal company in today’s fast-paced food industry have become more than we can sustain,” the message read. The firm was founded in 1931 by Gaetano “Tom” Vella, who worked at the Sonoma Mission Creamery before a group of dairymen called on him to start a cheese factory of his own, according to its website.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Cheese, Moose, Sister; Food
KEYWORDS: california; cheese; gavinnewsom; sonomacounty; whocutthecheese
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Another victory for Gavin Newsom.
1 posted on 08/27/2026 1:15:47 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: nickcarraway

94 years of cutting cheese is a good run.


2 posted on 08/27/2026 1:19:03 PM PDT by Hyman Roth
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To: nickcarraway

“No whey!”
“Whey!”

Some day California will return to its status as America’s paradise. I won’t live to see it, but perhaps my newborn grandson will.


3 posted on 08/27/2026 1:19:03 PM PDT by chajin ("There is no other name under heaven given among people by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12)
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To: Hyman Roth

second cheese cutter shut down in California this year (Swallwell)


4 posted on 08/27/2026 1:21:20 PM PDT by ghost of nixon
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To: nickcarraway

Blessed are the cheesemakers.................


5 posted on 08/27/2026 1:22:33 PM PDT by Red Badger (Iryna Zarutska, May 22, 2002 Kyiv, Ukraine – August 22, 2025 Charlotte, North Carolina Say her name)
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To: nickcarraway

Business close all the time.


6 posted on 08/27/2026 1:24:42 PM PDT by Fido969
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To: nickcarraway

7 posted on 08/27/2026 1:25:25 PM PDT by Repeal The 17th ( I am obsessed with not being obsessed with anything.)
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To: Hyman Roth

Wine and cheese are out.

In is pot and fentanyl.

California’s great ain’t it? SMH


8 posted on 08/27/2026 1:26:04 PM PDT by V_TWIN (America....so great even the people that hate it won't leave!)
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To: nickcarraway

It’s strange for a company to simply “shut down.” Its NY Post, so they won’t give us the background

Regardless of problems with management, California taxes, or finance, there are some real assets there of value, whether it be buildings, equipment, etc...

Moreover, there is also inherent value as a business with recipes, customer-lists, trained staff, established distribution channels, trademarks, etc...


9 posted on 08/27/2026 1:30:35 PM PDT by PGR88
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To: nickcarraway

COVID has been over a long time, so not buying it. Too gutless to say Greasy Gavin’s taxes, regulations and rules are the problem.


10 posted on 08/27/2026 1:33:48 PM PDT by BigFreakinToad (Not a fan of much)
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To: nickcarraway

Too bad they’re located in Sonoma County — a truly beautiful place — and were forced to bend over, grab their ankles and take that G-D Fauci Flu “shot” ... it clearly messed up their minds ... as well as they’re health.


11 posted on 08/27/2026 1:36:23 PM PDT by glennaro (2026: The year to crush the growing internal communism and jihadism in our free Republic)
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To: Fido969

“Business close all the time.”:

especially ones that were nuked by the fraudulent Fauci COCID shutdown ... approximately 200,000 permanent business closures due to the COVID shutdown occurred in excess of the normal number of business closures that would have occurred in that period without said shutdown based on closure numbers before and after the shutdown ...


12 posted on 08/27/2026 1:38:21 PM PDT by catnipman ((A Vote For The Lesser Of Two Evils Still Counts As A Vote For Evil))
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To: BigFreakinToad

That has nothing to do with COVID. After (and before) Newsom has made all kinds of efforts to chase business out of the state.


13 posted on 08/27/2026 1:38:34 PM PDT by nickcarraway
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To: Repeal The 17th

14 posted on 08/27/2026 1:55:29 PM PDT by llevrok (Voter apathy wins elections for liberals.)
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To: nickcarraway

Blessed are the cheesemakers.


15 posted on 08/27/2026 1:57:59 PM PDT by dfwgator ("I am Charlie Kirk!")
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To: nickcarraway

Another victory for globalist masters. Drive small business out, only large corporations who can absorb ridiculous taxes, fees, regulations, and laws can survive. And look! Those large corporations are owned by the globalist masters.
Win-win for them.


16 posted on 08/27/2026 2:02:31 PM PDT by vpintheak (The left is violence.)
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To: nickcarraway

They can all EASILY find jobs in Wisconsin - America’s REAL “Dairy Land!’

Just don’t bring your stupid socialist ideas with ya.

Shut up and make the cheese, Please!


17 posted on 08/27/2026 2:32:06 PM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have, 'Hobbies.' I'm developing a robust Post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
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To: nickcarraway

Even though he doesn’t come out and say it I’m guessing that part of the reason has to do with California’s hostile regulatory environment.


18 posted on 08/27/2026 2:36:23 PM PDT by AlaskaErik (There are three kinds of rats: Rats, Damned Rats, and DemocRats.)
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To: nickcarraway

Moose is very disappointed.


19 posted on 08/27/2026 2:55:55 PM PDT by Bullish (My tagline ran off with another man, but it's okay... I wasn't married to it.)
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To: nickcarraway

.


20 posted on 08/27/2026 4:18:35 PM PDT by redinIllinois (Pro-life, accountant, gun-totin' Grandma - multi issue vor in)
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