This East Coast Metropolis Simply Opened One of many First Cheese Merchandising Machines within the U.S.

In Philadelphia, you’ll be able to decide up a dice of cave-ripened cow’s milk cheese at 7 a.m., or a wheel washed in seawater from the North Atlantic for a midnight snack. Perrystead Dairy simply unveiled one of many nation’s first cheese merchandising machines exterior of its creamery within the metropolis’s Kensington neighborhood, and its artisanal, award-winning cheeses are actually in the stores any time of day or evening.

Proprietor Yoav Perry opened Philly’s first city dairy in 2021, garnering awards for his American unique cheeses, however the manufacturing facility — a small white constructing surrounded by a pollinator backyard rising lavender and rosemary — is just too small for a retail area. Would-be clients have been knocking on Perrystead’s door seeking to purchase cheese since they opened. Till now, although, it’s been out there nationwide in retailers and eating places, on-line, or for timed in-person pickups. “However the fast satisfaction and expertise have been lacking,” Perry instructed Journey + Leisure.

Perry obtained the concept for his 24-hour cheese dispensary after seeing comparable setups in Europe, the place rural farmstead cheesemakers use them to promote their items with out the overhead of a store. He additionally recalled Philadelphia’s historical past with merchandising machine fare — luncheonette Horn & Hardart borrowed the idea from Germany and opened America’s first automat within the metropolis in 1902.

“We thought a 24-7 self-service dispensary in our pollinator backyard could be a enjoyable comfort and product showcase — a mere few ft away from the place the cheese is made and aged,” he mentioned.

Set inside a music-filled, temperature-controlled sales space, the machine is stocked with Perrystead cheeses like Atlantis, a seasonal semi-soft cheese washed in ocean water, the creamy, spruce bark-wrapped Treehug, and the tangy, cream cheese-esque Actual Philly Schmear. (The modern cheeses make for a uniquely Philly memento however for these seeking to slice in immediately, a close-by picnic spot contains the grassy, riverfront Penn Treaty Park.)

Additionally on supply: all of the necessities for rounding out a cheeseboard, together with a rotating collection of crisps, preserves, and charcuterie — and even the boards and serving instruments.

For American Cheese Month, which runs till the tip of Could, Perrystead teamed up with famed New York Metropolis establishment Murray’s on a particular restricted version cheese referred to as Umbra. Moreover the Murray’s store and web site, you can too get the cheese with the push of some buttons on the dispensary.

The response, each from the group and past, has been enthusiastic, with the cheese dispensary drawing strains and social media consideration. Perry mentioned they’re targeted on perfecting the expertise, although he hasn’t dominated out opening extra machines.

“Given the enthusiastic response,” he mentioned, “it turned evident that different communities too, deserve their very own cheese accessibility ideas.”