Manufacturing
Beauty in Simplicity
We use only four simple ingredients to make our cheeses, and they are free of additives, preservatives, or stabilizers. All the cultures and enzymes we use in cheese making, including vegetarian rennet and surface ripening cultures, are free of bio-engineered or genetically modified ingredients. We always use fresh, local milk and never use frozen curd.
Goat and Cow Milk Cheeses
By Hand
We produce our entire line of goat and cow milk cheeses by hand – using apprenticed cheese makers, not machines. Our cheeses are scooped, turned, salted, washed, and brushed by hand. Why? Partly because we think it tastes better that way. And partly because it’s good for our community. In our part of the country, the northern Appalachian Mountains, jobs, particularly head-of-household wage earning jobs, have become scarce. We are committed to creating jobs with benefits and training: what’s good for us is also good for our neighbors.
Process Videos
Clean Energy
In 2015 we completed a 27.72 kilowatt solar array on the roof of our creamery, which means that a little bit of Garrett County’s sunshine is in every bite of cheese that we make! When our solar panels were installed, we also upgraded our lighting and electrical switches to ensure we were conserving as much energy as possible.
Low voltage fixtures and motion detector switches help us use less energy.
Whey Disposal & Donation
Our “leftover” whey is captured in a special closed system and is productively used to support our neighbor agri-businesses. This protein-rich, bio-active liquid is not dumped into public sewer or septic; it is captured, refrigerated, picked up by local farmers and fed to livestock or spread on fields as a nutrient dense all natural fertilizer.
If you are interested in how this works, check out Wildom Farm – they are one of the local farmers that uses our whey to feed their heritage pork.
Image of pigs enjoying some of FireFly’s whey courtesy of Wildom Farm.
"I have been milking for FireFly for over a decade but I am not the longest-milking farmer. I bought my herd from my father-in-law, who was FireFly's first goat dairy farmer back in 2006. They've grown the goat milk market substantially in our community."
FireFly Farms is committed to the manufacture and distribution of safe, high quality, goat and cow’s milk cheeses.Its management team is committed to ensuring that all operations remain compliant with applicable state and federal regulations governing the production, packaging, labeling and distribution of such cheeses. Further, the management, production, and administrative staff are committed to working collaboratively to build and maintain a culture of food safety. In this culture, all staff are responsible to adhere to its written food safety policies and to notify management immediately of any failures to meet existing policies or any opportunities to modify and improve existing policies to ensure this commitment maintained and strengthened.