FAQ
Handmade artisan cheese subscriptions brought to you by a collaboration between Birchrun Hills Farm and Valley Milkhouse Creamery.
frequently asked questions
How does the subscription work?
Cheese subscription boxes are distributed once per month. We use the Squarespace platform to bill our members up front for a 6-month season.
Subscribers select one of our host sites in Philadelphia, Southeast Pennsylvania, or New Jersey as their pickup location when selecting the product.
Before each monthly distribution, members receive an email newsletter with updates from our cheesemakers, stories behind the cheeses, and suggestions for how to serve, pair, and prepare your cheeses so you can make the most of your share.
You can give a Collective Creamery subscriptions as a gift or split a share with your friends.
We accept credit card payments through Squarespace.
If you would like to pay for your share via physical check or cash, please email us at cheese@collectivecreamery.com and we’ll help you out.
If the up-front payment is a barrier to your membership, please email us for installment options.
What are my payment options?
Why should I join?
Collective Creamery provides your household with a monthly supply of nourishing, delicious artisan cheeses, handmade with only the highest quality milk from local dairies. The cheeses are made with milk from animals that live a good, happy life on pasture. By purchasing directly from cheesemakers, you get a great value and directly support women-owned farm businesses practicing sustainable agriculture in Southeast Pennsylvania.
As a member, you also get early access to exclusive, collaborative and experimental cheeses that you can't get anywhere else. Best of all, you become part of a community of cheese enthusiasts, makers and mongers in the greater Philadelphia area.
How long is the season?
We run two 6-month seasons per year. The Spring-Summer season runs April through September. The Fall-Winter season runs October through March. Cheese selections vary with the seasons.
How many pounds of cheese are in each share?
Each Monthly Cheese Share box contains a curated mix of 4 types of cheese in a variety of styles sourced from our cheesemakers, including limited runs, seasonal cheeses, and experimental batches. Each piece of cheese weighs 6-8 ounces. We also love to spotlight special guest cheeses from small-scale, pasture-based cheesemakers in the Northeast US.
We offer cheese pickup sites throughout Philadelphia, Delaware, Montgomery, Chester, and Berks counties as well as the Lehigh Valley, and Pennsauken, NJ. Pickups occur on Thursdays, Fridays, or Saturdays depending on the host site.
Take a look at our awesome pickup locations, then select your desired location when subscribing. If you don’t see a host site near you, send us an email to bring one to your neighborhood. We are always looking for new members!
How do I select my pickup point?
Sorry, we are unable to hold cheese shares past the pickup window or refund missed pickups. We send our email newsletter the Wednesday afternoon of a pickup week and email reminders the morning of each site’s pickup.
We encourage you to share the cheese love with your friends, neighbors, family, or house sitter if you will be away during a pickup. You are welcome to have someone else pick up your share for you if you are unavailable.
What if I have to miss a distribution?
Collective Creamery cannot offer refunds for missed distributions.
What is the refund policy?
What is your cancellation policy?
We’re in our seventh year of distributing cheese to households in the greater Philly area, and we haven’t missed a delivery yet! However, we have had to delay deliveries by a day or so due to extreme weather like flooding and snowstorms to ensure that our drivers and members stay safe.
In the event of a delay caused by weather, emergency, or other unforeseen circumstances, we will notify affected members as soon as possible and make backup plans to distribute shares as soon as we are able.
Additional questions? Don't hesitate to reach out! Use this form or email us at cheese@collectivecreamery.com.