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History: In 1976, the Schad family purchased an 80-acre dilapidated farm in Greenville, near Floyds Knobs. Judy, the matriarch of the family, began purchasing and breeding goats. By the mid-’80s, her husband, Larry, was milking more than 50 goats. In 1988, the family built a commercial dairy and hauled 70 gallons of milk twice weekly to Huber’s Orchard and Winery in Starlight, about 7 miles away.
Cheesy transition: In the late 1980s, Judy Schad started testing her cheese-making abilities. By 1990, she needed more space and built a creamery at the farm. Schad was early into the domestic cheese-making game—national food publication Bon Appetit called her “one of the godmothers of American cheese.”
Fast growth: In 2012, the demand for cheese outgrew the Schads’ production capability, and tending to a 500-plus goat herd was becoming a strain. So the family decided to outsource the milking to regional dairy farmers. This helped Judy and the rest of the company focus on making cheese. The company currently has eight employees who operate a 2,400-square-foot creamery.
Popular product: The Wabash Cannonball is a 3-ounce, surface-ripened goat’s milk cheese with a lightly wrinkled rind. Traditional flavorless vegetable ash lies beneath the rind and is marbled throughout. The product won “Best of Show” from the American Cheese Society in 1995.
Availability: Capriole products are distributed at Whole Foods, Needler’s Fresh Market, Goose the Market, Fischer Farms and Blooming Foods.
Fun fact: Several cheeses have names with local inspiration, like the O’Banon. It was inspired by the late Gov. Frank O’Bannon and is spelled to be reminiscent of French Banon cheese.
Headquarters: Greenville
Website: capriolegoatcheese.com
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