Where Can I Get Cuba Cheese in Buffalo New York
Cuba Cheese Shoppe Thrives
Independent Gift Shop Specializing in More than just Cheese
By Judy Shuler
It's a staple, it's comfort food.
During the darkest days of the pandemic last spring, "our business went through the roof," says Sarah Bradley, who owns Cuba Cheese Shoppe with her father Jeff Bradley and brother, Justin (pictured in featured photo).
The Cuba, NY, store ships around the country, and many customers sent back notes, "you made my day," she says. Their business continues to thrive, with testimonials from Nome, AK, to Port St. Lucie, FL.
This week their 2020-2021 catalog goes into the mail, for those who prefer it in hand to online. Shoppers in either place will receive an early bird 10 percent discount for holiday orders placed by November 30.
They have mail order customers in all 50 states and the District of Columbia and an in-house mailing list of 80,000. New York leads in number of mail orders, followed by Florida—many, perhaps, who first tasted it here. While they advertise in print, billboard and broadcast media, it is word of mouth that reigns. Three full time delivery drivers supply over 200 stores in Western New York and northern Pennsylvania, including stores in Jamestown, Bemus Point, Ellicottville, Little Valley, Cassadaga and Salamanca.
The hands-down favorite—extra-sharp New York Cheddar, "our best seller, what we are famous for." That's followed by cheese curds, in flavors from spicy Italian to Buffalo wing. And cheese spreads are huge.
A sharp, unique flavor in New York State cheese is attributed to the soil and water peculiar to this area near the Great Lakes. Cows supposedly give milk that makes cheese with a distinctive sharp flavor because of their fodder and water.
In the late 1800s Cuba was cheese center of the world. Ackerly and Sills Plant was formed in 1887, making the New York State Cheddar cheeses that remain a favorite today. A succession of owners and names followed. By then known as Empire Cheese Co., they added a retail division with store front and mail order service in 1976.
In 1991, the plant decided to get out of the retail business, and Jeff Bradley bought the Cuba Cheese Shoppe as an independent stand-alone business. The store was renovated and expanded about 15 years later, along with the addition to the mail order packing room in the back.
Empire Cheese continues to make cheese in their Cuba plant, well-known for its mozzarella and provolone. Their Great Lakes plant in Adams, NY, produces a majority of the company's cheddar and cheese curd.
Along with featuring Empire Cheese products, Cuba Cheese Shoppe promotes local products like honey, chocolate, sauces, Amish goods, jellies and jams, mustards, barbecue sauces, and two types of salt-rising bread widely made by early settlers. And they sell over 450 varieties of domestic, imported and local cheeses, gourmet foods, gift baskets, gift items, kitchen wares, and more.
They started a fund raising program over 15 years ago, offering school, sports, civic and church organizations an opportunity to raise money. Some 100 organizations have participated—it is especially popular with FFA, Future Farmers of America.
Managing a gourmet food shop was not what she originally envisioned. Sarah earned a master's degree in sports management and worked for the NFL in Florida. When she realized Florida was not for her, Sarah came home to New York. Her dad, still the Big Cheese, invited her to work for him. Now her brother runs the retail shop and she handles administration and personnel. They sell seven and 15-year-aged Wisconsin cheddar; a sharp eye may notice one of the famed foam Wisconsin cheese heads in the shop, a nod to her NFL past.
A print catalog can be requested by phone, 1-800-543-4938 or online at cubacheese.com. Their store is open every day, 8:30am-5pm, closed only on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year's Day and Easter.
Where Can I Get Cuba Cheese in Buffalo New York
Source: https://thevillagerny.com/index.php/2020/10/14/cuba-cheese-shoppe-thrives/