Over Marieke Gouda

Marieke Penterman was born and raised in the Netherlands. Here she grew up on her parents’ dairy farm with 60 cows. This is where her passion for dairy cows and dairy farming originated.

After obtaining her bachelor’s degree in Dairy Business, Marieke started a career as a company inspector. Meanwhile, her then-future husband, Rolf Penterman, immigrated to Thorp, Wisconsin in the United States of America. From there he started a dairy farm with 350 cows.

Thorp, with a huge dairy base and farm-friendly people, was an ideal location. Marieke followed Rolf a year later. Once in the United States, she missed the cheese from home and started researching how to start her own business. Marieke decided to get her Wisconsin Cheesemaking License. She teamed up with a local cheesemaker and traveled back to her home country, training with two different cheesemakers all week. There she learned how to make authentic Dutch Gouda cheese.

Marieke has now built an impressive company in the United States. A cheese farm with passion, knowledge and love for cheese making. And Marieke doesn’t do that without merit. She has won many prizes at the United States Championship Cheese Contest with her cheese dairy Marieke Gouda.