Oakdale Cheese & Specialties

The History of Oakdale Cheese

Oakdale Cheese is owned and operated by Dutch immigrants Walter and Lenneke Bulk. Walter, 51, moved from the Netherlands to the United States in 1979. He left the family farm in the Haarlemmermeer for his older brother to farm and ventured to California for better opportunity.

The Bulk family

Lenneke , 50, joined Walter in 1982 by marrying him after a short courtship by the old pen and paper. It still works! In 1982, Jan Dirk (John) was born. In 1985, daughter Arijaantje (Jane) and in 1987, son Joost was born to the family. They moved from Marysville, to Escalon, to their current address in Oakdale, California and feel right at home in this small and tight community.

Cheesemaking has been in Walter’s family for 4 generations. So, it came natural to follow his ancestors footsteps when he bought his first cheese vat in 1983. It was in Escalon, hidden in an almond orchard, where the family remodeled an old dairy barn and produced their native Gouda cheese, Quark and Yogurt for the first 12 years. Sales were done on Certified Farmers Markets, by Mail Order and through a small room in their garage with refrigerator, where people could just walk in and leave their money on the counter top. Talking about honesty and trust!

With a leaking roof, bad floors and a lot of maintenance, they very happily moved to Oakdale in 1995, with a big bag of money loaned from the local Delta National bank in Manteca. It's here the Bulk’s really started living their American Dream, by building and developing a brand new location for their home, their cheesemaking and (hopefully!) their future customers.

10040 State Hwy. 120, Oakdale, CA 95361 - Phone: (209) 848-3139 - Fax: (209) 848-1162