Hello and welcome!  We are Heather and Reginald Donaldson, owners and founders of Mad Cheese.

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In 2019, we decided to try a vegan diet for one week. We wanted to do more to help the environment and were hopeful that we would enjoy the food enough to make it our permanent way of eating.

 

One week stretched into two weeks. We had more energy, less aches and overall just felt better. We were enjoying working with new ingredients and flavor combinations in the kitchen, too.

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Before going vegan, we both had a love for artisan cheeses and charcuterie. We weren’t thrilled with the commercial vegan options available, so Heather began researching how to create and age plant-based cheeses and meats at home. When the pandemic hit, we both ended up at home with no outside work. (We worked in the film industry and were living in Los Angeles). This gave Heather plenty of time to work on perfecting her recipes.

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The following summer, we traveled back to Cincinnati (we both grew up here) to visit Reggie's parents. We realized that they could use some extra support, and since there still wasn’t work happening in LA, we bought a house here in Madisonville (where Reggie was raised and his parents still live) and made the cross-country move. All fall we renovated our 1889 farmhouse and Heather kept working on her cheeses.

 

As she perfected recipes, she started giving samples to friends and family to try. They liked them so much that they shared them with their friends and family. Heather started getting requests from people we had never even met. People wanted to be able to buy them, and Mad Cheese was born.

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Our hope is that you will love our products whether you are vegan or not. The more we can eat plant- based food, the healthier we - and our planet - will be!