Achadinha Cheese Company

230 Acres in Petaluma, about 40 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
Jim and Donna Pacheco tend the goats and make the cheese with help from their 4 children: William, Daniel, Elizabeth, and David
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Jim Pacheco is a third generation dairyman and cheesemaker. The Pachecos raise over 1500 goats who roam freely. Depending on the season, the animals eat varying amounts of pasture supplemented with feed hay and brewers grain purchased from local breweries. The goats are never given hormones or antibiotics.
Most of the milk that comes from the Pacheco's goats is used to produce Achadinha Cheese Company cheeses; the rest is sold to other cheese companies. The Pacheco Family strongly believes that it is important for people to know where their food comes from.
All the goats are milked by machine. In keeping with their award winning formula, goat milk is first pasteurized then separated into curds and whey with vegetarian rennet. The curds are collected and formed into balls by hand (Capricious), or for their Broncha cheese, formed using a mold. The feta, which Donna makes by hand, is cured in a sea salt brine. To insure quality the whole process is done on site and by family members.
For their sausage, Jim and Donna only use older goats that have passed their milking age. The summer sausage is made by Taylor Sausage, in Oregon, a USDA approved facility.
An on-site spring is used for both drinking water for goats and irrigation water for fields.
