Description
Our Grandfather, John (Hans) Dauwalder, trained as a master cheese-maker in Switzerland, came to the United States in the 1920's to display his artisan talents in an increasing cheese market.

Like other Swiss farmers who made cheese on their farms and wished to emigrate to the United States, the brothers were listed with other individuals ?desiring to come over,? and were sought after in the American cheese-making market.

The Dauwalder brothers made their way to the Doughty Valley near Berlin. During World War II John returned to his native country to serve it and to provide shelter to refugees on his farm until the war was over.

After the war, John sold his farm in Switzerland and along with his wife, Lili, returned to the U. S. and purchased the cheese-making business Crist had founded.

Peter and Nancy Dauwalder, bought the company in 1962. The Dauwalders, too, began with three copper kettles; they are now in their third generation of family-owned cheese production. They utilized their particular family recipe, guaranteeing an individual taste. Other factors affect that unique taste as well. Even if every producer used the same recipe, the resulting cheese would still taste different due to the environment in which the cultures are grown and the variations in moisture content.

Heini?s cheese caters to specialty food distributors and consumers with ?more of a European style flavor and quality.?

At Bunker Hill, the curds are pressed into forms for a minimum of 12 hours, decreasing the whey moisture as well as the salt content needed in the product, the more liquid moisture we get out, the firmer the product.

Heini?s specialty is yogurt cheese, a pleasant, mild-flavored product whose popularity has grown substantially over the last two decades.

Bunker Hill products include a variety of other cheeses, including Swiss, Colby, Cheddar, and farmer?s, a mild, less fatty cheese good for deli sandwiches.

Due to the company?s interest in the health quality of its cheeses, which contain no artificial coloring or additives. In addition, and just as importantly, Heini?s guarantees that the milk it uses is 100 percent Amish milk from local Amish farmers, many of whom have extremely small herds that are afforded lush pasture land for grazing. Those farmers sign contracts saying they use no artificial hormones or bovine growth hormones.