Our Mission

Street Cheese has high standards for sourcing, food safety, quality, and sustainability, as we work to have a positive impact on our community.

Street Cheese adheres to the ingredient standards outlined by PCC Community Markets, which means we source cheese made from real ingredients, without the use of artificial growth hormones and antibiotics. The charcuterie we source is made with sustainably raised meat cured by traditional methods. We ask for the ingredient list for every product we bring in, and knowing our producers’ ingredient sourcing and animal husbandry practices is very important to us.

PCC outlined their standards to initiate change and innovation in the supply chain, to drive the growth of organic and sustainable businesses that can supply product for their shelves. While they are a large retailer, they only have a fraction of the market share other companies hold. The only way their standards can make a difference in the supply chain is if other retailers sign on and follow the path PCC paved. The more our business is able to grow, the more we can also drive positive change in the world.

We take food safety seriously and have obtained all of the required permits and licenses to work with ready-to-eat dairy and meats. Since cheese is classified as a “control time/temperature for safety food,” food businesses must operate out of an inspected kitchen in order to process or work with cheese. That means it is actually illegal for a business to work with cheese in a home kitchen, as cottage licensing does not allow licensees to work with cheese unless it is thoroughly cooked.

We are proud members of The Crate, Discover Burien‘s micro-business incubator commissary kitchen. Yet with a shared space comes a shared environment. While we sanitize often, we work right next to bakers in an environment where all of the Big 9 allergens are present.

Since cheese is a living food that is home to communities of mold, yeast, and bacteria, cheesemongers are notorious clean freaks. Our primary job is to ensure the cheese you receive is as the cheesemaker intended it to be, so we sanitize our workspace and tools often with food-safe sanitizers, understand the proper production progressions for working with different types of cheese to avoid contamination, , and observe the correct cold-holding practices for our refrigerated products.

Safe and proper handling is key to honoring the producers who work hard to make the cheese, charcuterie, and accompaniments we sell—and more importantly, to honor the animals whose lives are involved in food production. In addition to educating our customers about proper care at home, we practice what we preach by wrapping most of our cheese in paper and focusing on selling fresh inventory.

Cheesemongers and butchers are similar, with both professions requiring lots of technical training and education. We are constantly practicing and refining our skills, taking advantage of educational opportunities, and seeking out best practices that will allow us to continue offering cheese in the best possible condition.

As Street Cheese grows and we bring on new staff, we look forward to offering them proper training as well as opportunities for continuing education on and off the clock.

While we recognize it is impossible to totally eliminate all trash in a retail store, we work to diminish our business’ environmental impact by sourcing biodegradable packaging materials, ensuring the products we sell are free of harmful chemicals and additives, and sourcing locally produced products first, because maintaining a resilient regional food system is the most sustainable way to feed a community.  We also work to educate our customers on how to get the most out of the food we sell. Once we find Street Cheese‘s future brick and mortar location, we look forward to engaging with our community food bank to decrease our food waste and to increase the availability of quality food to all people in our area.