Essex St Cheese was founded in New York City in 2006 by the late Daphne Zepos. Her original vision was to sell a single cheese – Comté – in its best possible condition. Not satisfied to simply accept cheese through standard distribution channels, Daphne insisted on selecting every single batch of the cheese herself, ensuring a consistent, exacting, and exceptional flavor profile for the Essex Comté. Two years later, Daphne added a second cheese – L’amuse Signature Gouda – a cheese so far superior to all other Dutch aged goudas in the US market that it immediately carved out a permanent spot for itself on cheese counters across the country. Soon after that she introduced us all to Giorgio Cravero, and so on, growing her small but mighty line of cheeses one gorgeous wheel at a time. 

Still one of the smallest importers around, today Essex brings in several different profiles of Comté, Manchego, Parmigiano Reggiano, Feta, and the L’amuse Goudas. Daphne passed away in 2012 but her vision persists: the cheeses Essex selects are unfailingly excellent. 

Essex is more than just an importer. In practice they are also a sort of travelling educational institution. When they visit a cheese shop, not only will they set aside time to educate the mongers working there, they’re also happy to set up a class geared toward consumers. They’ll even come “embed” at your shop – work full shifts behind the counter with you for days at a time to train your staff and share tips for selling cheese that they’ve picked up at some of the best counters across America and Europe.

Essex also sponsors several educational internships each year. Our own Alex Brown had the good fortune of participating in the Quéseria 1605 internship in Spain in 2023, and Ryan Vesper completed the L’amuse internship in the Netherlands in 2025. They both got hands-on experience with animal care, cheesemaking, selection, affinage, and more through these internships. Essex’s educational undertakings offer an unparalleled example of actively aligning a company’s work with its stated mission. The value that they have added to the industry can be seen on nearly every cheese counter across the country, not only in the exceptional cheeses they import, but also in the depth of knowledge of cheese-folk everywhere.