Benton Harbor Cheese Factory Produces Award-Winning Brie for 40 Years

Old Europe Cheese in Benton Harbor has been making French-style soft cheeses, including popular Reny Picot brie, since the 1980s.

Published on Feb. 27, 2026

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Old Europe Cheese, a French-owned company, has been operating a cheese production facility in Benton Harbor, Michigan for nearly 40 years. The factory started out making semi-soft cheeses like gouda and edam, but eventually focused on producing high-quality brie cheese under the Reny Picot label. The company uses milk from a Michigan supplier to make a variety of brie products, including double and triple cream versions, in different sizes and shapes.

Why it matters

In an era of consolidation in the food industry, Old Europe Cheese's Benton Harbor facility represents a successful independent, family-owned cheese producer that has maintained its French-inspired quality and artisanal approach over decades. The company's commitment to using local Michigan milk also supports the regional dairy industry.

The details

Old Europe Cheese purchased the Benton Harbor facility in 1987 and gradually converted it from a fluid dairy plant to one focused on making soft cheeses like brie. The factory now produces around 1 million pounds of cheese per year, all packaged on-site. The brie is made using a specific process that involves blending milk and cream, adding cultures and rennet, and then forming the curds and whey into molds that cure for 8-9 days before being packaged under the Reny Picot label.

  • Old Europe Cheese purchased the Benton Harbor facility in 1987.
  • The factory began production of soft cheeses like brie in the late 1980s.

The players

Old Europe Cheese

A French-owned company headquartered in Madrid, with facilities in France, Spain, Poland, and the United States. The company opened its cheese production facility in Benton Harbor, Michigan in 1987.

Gilbert Bourgouin

The general manager of Old Europe Cheese's Benton Harbor facility.

MMPA

The Michigan Milk Producers Association, which supplies the milk and cream used by Old Europe Cheese in its Benton Harbor facility.

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What they’re saying

“We just produced what we call a semi-soft brie cheese, kind of like the French style. We produce it in a 5 ounce, 8 ounce, 14 ounce, 1 kilo, 3 kilo. We also kind of make a unique product which we call a rectangle log and we make that in an 8 ounce, a 1 pounder, and a 3.25 pounder. It's kind of unique because it's kind of a rectangle shape and it's easy to slice rather than trying to slice what we call the rounds, the normal brie shape.”

— Gilbert Bourgouin, General Manager (wsjm.com)

“We think we have one of the best products, one of the best US-made bries, and we're happy with it, and we just continue to grow.”

— Gilbert Bourgouin, General Manager (wsjm.com)

What’s next

Old Europe Cheese plans to continue expanding distribution of its Reny Picot brie products to more grocery stores across the United States.

The takeaway

Old Europe Cheese's Benton Harbor facility demonstrates how a family-owned, artisanal cheese producer can thrive for decades by maintaining high quality standards and a commitment to using local ingredients, even as the food industry has consolidated around large corporations.