Family owned, family churrned

Nordic Creamery offers small-batch, hand-made artisan dairy products...

WESTBY – A century-old family farmstead in West Central Wisconsin is home to Nordic Creamery, which has supplied artisan cheese and butter across the country for nearly two decades.

Al Bekkum – who founded and owns Nordic Creamery with his wife Sarah – said the facility currently sits on the land Sarah’s ancestors settled on when they immigrated to the dairy state in 1917.

“Her great, great grandfather came over from Norway and settled there,” he said. “The farm has been in our family for more than 100 years now.”

Eventually coming into ownership of her familial land, Al said he and Sarah decided to make it their own – and thus began Nordic Creamery.

Generational goals

Al said he’s been making cheese and butter for 30 years, while Sarah previously worked in the healthcare field...