When shoppers at the Wegmans in Rockville sample and buy pieces of authentic Italian Parmigiano Reggiano or Triple-Cream French Brie, they are usually unaware of how much preparation, care, and hard work go into each of these products.
When the Rockville store opened in June 2025, the cheese demonstrations and other samples quickly became a customer favorite.
The history goes back some 22 years when Danny Wegman, Wegmans Chairman of the Board, assembled a team of experts to begin an exhaustive process of how to provide his customers with “the ultimate cheese experience,” by melding old-world methods and new-world technology.
The pursuit of perfectly ripened brie, camembert, triple cream, and other soft cheeses found in France prompted Danny Wegman to take his team on a journey to conduct extensive research on the cheese-making process.
The result was acquiring the right technology, bringing together cheese experts, and building state-of-the-art cheese caves in the company’s headquarters in Rochester, New York.
This was all backed by the 109-year-old family-owned and operated, community-oriented grocery company, which provides these scrumptious, unique options to all Wegmans stores. The company motto: Great people who work together can accomplish anything.”
“We traveled throughout France, spending time in caves and discovering that the process had a lot to do with temperature, humidity, and outside air flow, all of which dramatically changes the product,” explained Cathy Gaffney, Wegman’s Vice President of Cheese and Deli, who has been with the company for 32 years.
The goal was to figure out how to bring these products across the pond and put them in the ideal environment where they could be successfully finished to the perfect level of ripeness. So, they built cheese caves in Rochester, with the help of a 25-member team.
The new cheese caves were opened in 2014. A short time later, 32-year Wegmans veteran, Mike Riley, became Wegmans’ Category Merchant, Olde World Cheese.
“Besides developing perfectly ripened cheeses,” Riley says, “we discovered that we could start making our own varieties, which resulted in many unique products (including brie and goat cheese) that you can only find at Wegmans.”
It took a couple of years to get the Wegmans’ supplier partners to understand what the company was trying to build, so they could work together on “the ripeness curve."
It was important that these partners know that the key to the success of this massive cheese endeavor, “was to understand what we were trying to do and develop, and to have them produce, package, and ship a product on a specific day every time, so we could finish that recipe here in the caves,” says Gaffney.
“Creating superior cheese products is a lot about partnerships,” Gaffney adds, “because we know that you're going to get a completely different experience with the level of quality that we're bringing to you.”
She adds that, “it doesn't matter whether we're selling a French Brie for brunch or Italian cheeses to prepare Sunday dinner. They're all very passionate, knowledgeable about what they're sharing. We want our folks in the stores to stay passionate and knowledgeable about the products they are sharing with our customers.”
Another important aspect of the extensive cheese process is a certification program for the Wegman teams to learn more about the Italian Parmesan, which at its centerpiece is the proper “cracking” of the Parmesan wheel.
The wheels come in 80-pound pieces, and Riley says that since most customers prefer smaller chunks, “we literally crack the wheel, negotiate it instead of cutting it – and listen for the crunch – in the most minimally invasive way.”
“We feel that cheese evokes a good feeling; it can be an appetizer, in a charcuterie board, part of the main meal, or the centerpiece of lunch or dinner,” he adds. “Our mission statement is to bring to our customers the best cheeses from around the world.”
“One of the things we strive to do is to make great meals easier with non-cooking offerings. And that's something the Wegmans family has always asked us to do,” says Riley.
“I'm in the business of helping people, and in doing so, helping the stores carry that forward to people,” he adds. “So, my job is to go all around the world to find the best cheese possible and to understand local, national, and international trends, and try to bring those experiences back to our customers.”
Wegmans is a values-based family company that was founded by brothers Walter and John Wegman in Rochester, New York. In 1950, Robert Wegman (the second generation) became chairman until he died in 2006.
Today, Danny Wegman (third generation) serves as chairman, and Danny’s daughter, Colleen Wegman (fourth generation), is president and CEO, and his daughter, Nicole Wegman (fourth generation), is president of the Wegmans Brand.
“Everyone involved is dedicated to providing high-quality products and exemplary customer service,” says Riley, “in the same way as the previous generations.”
For more information, go to:
Website: https://www.wegmans.com
Address: 1590 Rockville Pike, Rockville, MD. 20852
Cheese Caves Link: wegmans.com/cheese-caves
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One of the things we strive to do is to make great meals easier with non-cooking offerings.