‘We’re somebody’s tradition – that’s really special’

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

June 1, 2026

SISTER BAY – Rachael Johnson said the idea for Door County Creamery – an artisan shop and cafe – was inspired by her husband Jesse’s visit to a French goat farm.

“My husband is a trained culinary chef, and before the creamery, he had cooked in many different places in the world – France, Italy, San Francisco, Puerto Rico – so he grew up in restaurants,” she said. “At one point, he was doing a [culinary internship] in Avignon, France. [While there], he visited a goat farm and fell in love with the idea of someday getting some goats and making some cheese.”

Johnson, a former school psychologist, said Jesse’s dream became reality after they met in Door County and established their own farm in Sister Bay.

“He was working for his family’s fine-dining restaurant, the Waterfront, but he wanted to get out of that high-pressure [environment],” she said. “So, he just threw out there, ‘What if we got some goats?’”

Johnson said when she and Jesse opened Door County Creamery 14 seasons ago, access to “high-quality goat milk” was limited locally, further motivating them to start the business.

“That was really the catalyst for getting our own herd,” she said. “We started with 12 goats.”

As their initial herd grew, Johnson said it became unmanageable for her and Jesse to operate the farm and creamery simultaneously.

“The business started to grow, our family started to grow, we were milking 200 goats, trying to run this store and raise a family,” she said. “Something had to give… We actually ended up selling our herd [post-COVID-19], so we don’t farm anymore.”

Thankfully, by that time, Johnson said they had established a partnership with another Northeast Wisconsin goat farm, making it easier for Door County Creamery to continue under a different business model.

“Now, instead of raising our own animals, we pick up milk from them,” she said.

Whether sourced from their own farm or local partners, Johnson said Door County Creamery has delivered fresh, handmade goat milk products for 14 years.

“It’s been [a] beautiful journey,” she said. “People tell you it goes fast, and they’re not lying.”

Fresh, handmade, quality

Located at 10653 N. Bay Shore Drive in downtown Sister Bay, Johnson said Door County Creamery is a “micro-creamery” where she and Jesse make all their goat cheese in-house.

“We have a small cheese vat, and when I think about it, there are not really a lot of places that do it how we do it,” she said.

Despite Jesse’s culinary background, Johnson said there was a learning curve to farming and making goat cheese.

“We didn’t have any experience, we didn’t have any knowledge base – we were completely self-taught,” she said. “Then we had to learn how to run a small business and threw a couple of our own kids in there.”

Having traveled “pretty extensively” prior to settling in Door County, Johnson said she and Jesse decided to curate the creamery’s offerings to their interests – with its menu featuring goat cheese, fresh-made sandwiches, soups, “craft coffee” and gelato.

“We love high-quality food [and] food that brings you memories,” she said. “Gelato [is] an amazing product and, versus ice cream, goat milk lends itself a bit better to gelato.”

Because goats produce milk in much lower quantities than cows – “where a cow might produce 13 gallons of milk a day, a goat’s going to produce maybe a gallon” – Johnson said products derived from it may be more expensive, but, in some cases, are better for the consumer.

“A lot of people who are lactose-intolerant can actually have goat dairy,” she said. “We learned that along the way, [and it’s] actually become a drawing point.”

As their milk yields began to outpace their cheese and gelato making, Johnson said that’s when she took up soap making.

“I started making soap in our basement, and everything just went from there,” she said. “We opened the retail space, and that’s taken on many different shapes and forms.”

Though they no longer farm their own milk, Johnson said the fresh-made quality of their products has been maintained, possibly improved.

“It’s actually probably fresher because we pick up the day [the goats are] milked,” she said. “When we had our own farm, we would usually collect like two or three days’ worth, because we weren’t as big.”

‘Elevated nostalgia’

As a seasonal business, Johnson said she looks forward to seeing the “same familiar faces” year in and out – enjoying extra flexibility in the off-season.

“We homeschool our children, [and] we still try to travel the world in the winter, because it’s where we get a lot of inspiration,” she said.

When they opened in 2012, Johnson said Door County Creamery brought a very “European” vibe to Northeast Wisconsin.

“We had to remember we’re in Wisconsin,” she said. “People don’t necessarily eat the same things or the same way, but it doesn’t mean we can’t still give them the experience.”

Customer satisfaction, Johnson said, is a top priority – holding all Door County Creamery’s products to “really high standards” regardless of their origins.

“If someone comes in and [we] maybe haven’t [met] their standard, which rarely happens, then we will listen, we will shift and we will adjust, because… life is too short for mediocre experiences,” she said. “We don’t want to give you mediocre – that’s not what we’ve ever been about, and that’s not what has made us become an institution.”

Reflecting on years passed, Johnson said she’s both immensely proud of their work and extremely grateful for the community’s ongoing support.

“There’s definitely local community support, [but] we’re loved very much by summer families,” she said. “It’s this idea of creating elevated nostalgia – where life should slow down enough to savor beautiful food, summer and meaningful moments.”

Continually providing that environment, Johnson said, has been her and Jesse’s favorite aspect of owning and operating Door County Creamery.

“We’re somebody’s tradition,” she said, “and that’s really special.”

The Door County Creamery’s hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday during the spring, summer and fall seasons.

For more, visit doorcountycreamery.com.