The guy who put the cheese in the Cheese Festival this year

Thanks to a volunteer group, the Monroe Cheese Festival returned this past Saturday, drawing crowds with abundant vendors, food, games, and live music performances. The Cheese Festival also needed cheese, which it hasn’t always had. This time, however, The Cheese Guy arrived.

This cheese-producing and distributing company is a part of Old World Marketplace and was founded in 2005 by Brent Delman, a cheesemonger with a passion for making quality kosher cheese.

“The Cheese Guy started out with one man, Brent Delman, one truck...you would see him at 12 o’clock at night selling cheese, 6 o’clock in the morning,” said Jerry Lesher, demo manager for The Cheese Guy, whose group provided products and free samples during the festival. “He would put it on a truck. He would go to a store and sell it right there...’Do you want to try my cheese? Do you want to buy my cheese?’” Lesher recounted.

Seventeen years later, The Cheese Guy distributes to over a thousand stores, whether it’s locally, near his New Jersey base, within the country, or even as far as Mexico.

The company prides itself on its wide selection of artisan, kosher cheeses made with milk from local farms in Vermont, New York, and Ohio. Some fan favorite cheeses include gouda, manchego, bloom and havarti, and many of them are processed for months or even years before being sold.

“He just came out with an extra creamy havarti; it took him years to get the taste he wanted...he never rushes, it’s always quality,” Lesher explained.

At the Cheese Festival, The Cheese Guy attracted a long line, as passersby sampled cheesy cubes and perused the booth’s products. “We’re hoping for a great day,” said Lesher.