At Verweij, they’re always ready to try something new.
Welcome to the Verweij family farm.
The farm is run by three brothers — Pieter, Cornelius, and Jaco — and here, cheesemaking is anything but a side job. Opportunities are embraced with enthusiasm, and together with the next generation and a team of ten dedicated employees, they milk four hunderd fifty cows and produce more than fifty different types of cheese.
Grateful for all they receive from God, they work each day with the greatest care for their animals and their surroundings. Because they firmly believe: if you treat the world well, the world will treat you well in return.
the cooperative
The Verweij family's connection to the cooperative goes all the way back to its founding in 1915, when ancestor J. Verweij served as the second chairman of the very first board. Today, Cornelius carries on that legacy as chairman of the current board and sees the cooperative as an essential part of their business.
Not only does the cooperative provide a reliable outlet for their cheeses — the collaboration with its sales and quality departments has also played a key role in product development. Together, they’ve been able to test and refine new recipes, resulting in a remarkable range of more than fifty unique cheeses produced for the cooperative.
professional growth
Since their father took over the farm from an uncle in 1978, the Verweij family has been farming at their current location. In the early years, cheese was made only in summer. That changed in 1991 with the construction of a freestall barn, which created space to leave the cheese vat in place — laying the foundation for year-round cheesemaking and the farm’s current way of working.
Today, Cornelius is responsible for the livestock, Jaco manages the technical side of the farm, and Pieter runs the cheesemaking operation. Cheesemaking is no longer something that’s done on the side. What used to be a seasonal chore for their father has grown into a full-time task requiring professionalism and precision. With around thirty batches per week, cheese is now the farm’s main product — and with that comes a strong focus on quality.
The farm originally produced mostly 16-kilo wheels, but after the cheesemaking facility was modernised in 2009, demand shifted rapidly toward other formats. Today, Pieter and his team mainly produce 30- and 5-kilo cheeses — especially the smaller wheels, made in countless colours, flavours, and varieties. These are sold through the cooperative as well as directly from the family’s own market stall.
The Verweij family is anything but afraid of innovation. Since 2020, they’ve been using a traditional smoking chamber to create smoked cheeses, and they’ve started producing beer-infused cheeses too. In addition to cow’s milk, they now also process goat’s milk and buffalo milk into cheese.
The farm’s growth over the years has been driven by their flexible mindset and genuine curiosity for new opportunities. Back in 1978, the farm had seventy cows. Today, they milk four hundred and fifty — and they’re currently building a brand-new cheesemaking facility to support their future ambitions.
future-proof
Growing up on a farm means being part of it from a young age — learning through doing. Feeding cows with a wheelbarrow, riding along on the tractor — you naturally grow into it. Cornelius never considered doing anything other than farming, and he sees the same in his two sons, now nineteen and twenty-one, who have been on tractors since they were kids. The next generation is already eager and involved.
But it’s not just the sons — the whole family pitches in and values doing most of the fieldwork themselves, and especially doing it together.
Innovation isn’t limited to cheese varieties. Alongside the new, modern cheesemaking facility currently under construction, the farm uses a coating robot so that cheeses no longer need to be waxed by hand. An automated feeding system not only reduces physical labour, it also ensures that the cows receive a fresh, balanced meal eight times a day.
The farm runs energy-neutral, thanks to solar panels on the rooftops. A mono-digester on site converts manure into energy, which is then used to power and heat the cheesemaking facility.
The family remains committed to innovation — all with one goal in mind: making the farm future-proof for the next generation.
