Who Owns Tillamook?

Dairy farming came to Tillamook County in the 1850s when settlers found the wet coastal climate ideal for cattle. Local creameries organized in 1909, when ten independent dairies each contributed $10 to form the Tillamook County Creamery Association and adopt a single cheddar recipe, still followed today, built on four ingredients. The county built a schooner, the Morning Star, to ship cheese to Portland markets; its image remains the brand's logo.

Through the twentieth century, Tillamook cheddar became a Pacific Northwest staple, sold through regional grocery chains. The co-op added ice cream production and opened the Tillamook Cheese Factory visitor center, which grew into one of Oregon's top tourist draws, welcoming close to a million visitors a year.

The modern growth chapter began under CEO Patrick Criteser, who took over in 2012 and pushed the brand from a regional dairy into a national one. Distribution expanded from the western states into the Midwest, South, and East Coast, and annual sales climbed roughly 250 percent over about a decade to more than $1.2 billion. Product lines widened to butter, cream cheese spreads, yogurt, sour cream, and frozen meals.

David Booth, a decade-long company veteran, became CEO in 2024. In June 2025 the co-op opened a $65 to $70 million ice cream plant in Decatur, Illinois, its first owned-and-operated manufacturing site outside Oregon, built to serve eastern US demand. Tillamook ice cream is now the fastest-growing family-size ice cream brand in the country, with about 27 million gallons sold in 2024.