Enjoy Unique Cheese from Self-Milking Cows at 36,000 Feet on Singapore Airlines

Rogue Creamery: Award-Winning Cheese

It’s been voted the best cheese in the world and is served on a World’s Best Award-winning airline.

It’s a Friday afternoon, and I’m standing next to four Singapore Airlines chefs marveling at an AI-powered cow-milking machine in Central Point, Oregon. There’s a sentence I never thought I’d write.

I had been invited to join the chefs on an immersion trip to Singapore Airlines’ newest culinary partner, Rogue Creamery, to get an inside look at the production of its award-winning cheese. The Rogue River Blue, named the best cheese in the world at the 2019/2020 World Cheese Awards, has been served on Singapore Airlines flights departing from the U.S. as part of the company’s farm-to-plane initiative since April 2022. I am the first journalist to see the cheese-making process in action.

The Cheese-Making Process: A Blend of Tradition and Innovation

“It’s very, very simple — it’s beautiful food grown locally, as close to the airplane as possible,” Singapore Airlines’ global food and beverage director Antony McNeil tells me about the program over breakfast. “It’s a reduction in our carbon footprint, reducing food miles and leading the customer experience to be holistic.”

McNeil stumbled across Rogue Creamery on Instagram some three or four years ago and immediately suspected the company might be the right fit for the farm-to-plane program. The independent organic cheese maker is entering its 90th year of operation, the last 20 of which have been under the supervision of president and owner David Gremmels, who was responsible for developing Rogue River Blue. Rogue Creamery is built on sustainable practices and innovation.

“In America, we’re not grounded by tradition, so we can be really experimental in creating recipes,” Gremmels says. “I created Rogue River Blue as a true expression of this valley.”

Local Ingredients and Sustainable Practices

Everything that enters the cheese is specific to the region. The milk comes from Rogue’s herd of 129 self-milking (yes, really) cows, who reside at Rogue Creamery Dairy Farm on the banks of the Rogue River. The cheese is wrapped in the leaves of syrah grapes grown locally, preserved in alcohol from pears grown at local orchards.

McNeil emphasizes the significance of this relationship by involving chefs in the cheese-making process for a deeper understanding of the partnership. “It takes you back to why you became a chef in the first place,” he says, noting the opportunity to experience unique flavor profiles at the source.

The Art and Science of Cheese Making

Our experience brings us elbows deep in a 10,000-pound vat of cheese curds. Artisanal cheese making is a surprisingly manual process — part mad science experiment, part art form, and part workout. The curds are cut by hand, stirred with large shovels, and while automation exists, the human touch is essential for ensuring quality across the batch.

While some aspects, like monitoring pH levels, rely on science, nuances like recognizing the perfect point for mold and bacteria growth depend on years of hands-on experience.

Innovative Cow-Milking Technology

After our cheese-making experience, we took a short drive to Rogue Creamery’s 68-acre dairy, where cows are housed in the custom-designed Cow Palace. This facility has excellent airflow and ample space for dining and sleeping, featuring those sophisticated AI-powered milking machines.

The self-milking system is impressively sophisticated, monitoring the health and well-being of each cow during milking. This advanced system allows cows to be milked at their convenience, maintaining their natural behaviors.

When a cow is ready, she walks to the machine and enters a small enclosure for a treat. Lasers and cameras map each udder, and the robotic arm attaches milking cups with precision. The system ensures sanitation and records the quality and production rate of milk, offering a comprehensive understanding of each cow’s dairy health.

Conclusion: A Unique Culinary Experience

The chefs and I were astounded by this technology; it transformed our perspective on Rogue Creamery cheese. So, the next time you’re flying Singapore Airlines, explore the menu options and ask your flight crew about the ingredients. The answer may surprise you with tales of vertical gardens in New Jersey or self-milking cows in Oregon. That’s the farm-to-plane way.