thumb|Tillamook Creamery in 2008, prior to its 2018 remodel.
The Tillamook County Creamery Association (TCCA) is a farmer-owned dairy cooperative headquartered in Tillamook County, Oregon, United States. The association manufactures and sells dairy products under the "Tillamook" brand name. Its main facility is the Tillamook Creamery, located two miles north of the city of Tillamook on U.S. Route 101.
According to the trade magazine Dairy Foods, Tillamook, the 44th largest dairy processor in North America, posted $1 billion in sales in 2021. TCCA employs nearly 900 people in Oregon and is the largest employer in Tillamook County. The brand is strongest on the West Coast but sells in all 50 states. It routinely wins awards from the American Cheese Society and other groups.
The cooperative includes nearly 60 dairy farms, mostly within Tillamook County. The cooperative markets several processed dairy products, including cheese, ice cream, butter, sour cream, and yogurt, some of which are manufactured by the cooperative itself and other products which are produced under licensing agreements with various partner companies. Their most notable product is Tillamook cheese, including the most popular cheese: Tillamook Cheddar. In March 2010, Tillamook's Medium Cheddar cheese won the gold medal in the 2010 World Cheese Championship Cheese Contest hosted by the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association in Madison, Wisconsin. The cheese scored 99.6 out of 100 points possible, beating 59 other entries.
History
thumb|left|Exterior of the factory in 1992
The Tillamook Valley was ideal for dairy cattle in the mid-19th century, but transporting the milk and butter over the mountains surrounding the valley was a problem. In 1854, several farmers from the county built a schooner named the Morning Star to transport butter to Portland, Oregon; the schooner is now featured as part of the co-op's logo, and a replica (constructed in 1992 by master shipwright Richard Miles of Aberdeen, Washington) is on display at The Tillamook Cheese Factory. Peter McIntosh and T. S. Townsend established the county's first cheese factory in 1894. The association was founded by ten independent creameries in 1909. TCCA hired an ad agency and began campaigning in 1917 in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Portland.
Under secretary-manager George R. Lawson (CEO- 1944-1950), the cooperative began producing rindless cheese in 1946 and bottled milk the following year. In 1949, partnering with four independent plants and with financing arranged through First National Bank, the Tillamook Cheese Factory north of Tillamook was built. The enlarged facility included a storage plant and traffic department.
Columbia River Processing, Inc., a second cheese-making facility, was built in Boardman, Oregon, in September 2001. Its production capacity doubled TCCA's cheesemaking capabilities.
In 2009, Tillamook County Creamery Association celebrated 100 years in business.
Tours inside the actual cheese processing area of the plant were discontinued in 1967 due to health and safety regulations. A new visitors center was opened in June 2018 with of exhibit and viewing space. The center also includes a dining area and gift store.
The Tillamook Cheese Factory produces more than 170,000 pounds of cheese daily and packages approximately one million pounds on-site each week.
Marketing
Tillamook had a "Loaf Love Tour" featuring customized Volkswagen "Baby Loaf" busses that sample cheese at grocery stores and community events. Tillamook commercials on television include its "Food Loves Tillamook" campaign, "Dairy Done Right" campaign, and "Goodbye Big Food, Hello Real Food" campaign.
Controversy
TCCA bought the cheese cooperative in Bandon, Oregon, in 2000. After buying the Bandon Cheese factory and its brand name, Tillamook's lawyers warned several South Coast businesses with "Bandon" in their names that they might need to make a "content change" to avoid confusion with the cheese. In that 2004 case, a federal judge ruled that Tillamook Country Smoker could register its name as a trademark, but that Tillamook Country Smoker could not use or register the Tillamook Jerky mark.