Traveling from its maker at a small farmstead in Albio, Spain, to a cheese counter in New York City, Garrotxa Sant Gil d’Albio traverses 4,174 miles across land and ocean and many hands in between.
The Spanish countryside near Albio, where this trek begins
Murciana goats supply the milk
Cheesemaker Josep Marti in his aging room
Marti’s mother, Nativitat Ninot, founded the creamery in 1986; every wheel is brushed during aging
Brushing the cheese
Labeling a matured wheel of Garrotxa Sant Gil D’Albio
Loading the pallet of cheese on the truck
On the road to Jumilla
At Centrale Quesera Montesinos
The shipment is sealed
Jose Maria, warehouse manager, securing a sport for Garrotxa in the shipping container
The cheese emigrates, crossing the Atlantic in a climate-controlled section of a freighter
After nine days at sea, the freighter catches sight of New York Harbor
Docking at the Port of Newark in New Jersey
The cheese waits to clear U.S. Customs
Unloading begins
At the warehouse of importer Forever Cheese, manager Tyrell Moore unlocks the container
First the temperature of the cheese is checked
The cheese is unloaded from the container
The cheese is moved to a refrigerated room
Moore checks the count of each pallet
Moore moves the individual boxes of cheese
Forever Cheese’s general manager, Jeff DiMeo, administers the nose test on a core sample of Garrotxa
Forever Cheese’s office mascot
Ideal Cheese Shop in New York City
4,174 miles and 19 days later, Garrtoxa Sant Gil d’Albio arrives at Ideal Cheese
On the counter, for sale
Michele Buster, VP and owner of Forever Cheese, proudly displays her wheel of Garrtoxa
