Traverse City creamery looks to purchase repurposed shipping container-turned-micro dairy

What’s happening: Saltless Sea Creamery is ready to grow their business; they just need the room to do it. And after a recently successful crowdfunding campaign that raised $30,020, the Traverse City-based cheese maker is one step closer to realizing their dream of having a place to call their own. After sharing production facilities since their 2019 founding, Saltless Sea is on track to purchase a repurposed shipping container-turned-micro dairy, to be installed at a yet-to-be-determined site in the Traverse City area.

What’s next: The $30,020 should help them get there. Saltless Sea is applying for a Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development (MDARD) grant that could total up to $100,000. The grant requires applicants to provide 30 percent in matching funds, hence the $30,020 raised.

What’s planned: Joy and Dave Omar, the married couple that own and operate Saltless Sea, have their eyes set on a custom repurposed shipping container from Don’s Dairy Supply, an Upstate New York company that builds micro-dairies from old shipping containers, designing their micro-dairies according to their client’s needs and complying with their future home state’s rules and regulations. While Saltless Sea has yet to secure a landing spot, Dave Omar says that they’re eyeing several sites in and around Traverse City and hope to be open by the end of the year.

Why it’s important: Having a facility of their own will allow Saltless Sea to scale up, Dave says, and make more cheese and more types of cheese. Current site limitations have the company focused on Italian-style cheeses; a facility of their own would allow Saltless Sea to begin production of various Middle Eastern cheeses, which is what Dave grew up making at home with his family. And while the specific site has yet to be confirmed, the Omars know that Saltless Sea Creamery will remain a Traverse City company. They do know that.

“This is a place that still has room for you,” Dave says. “People here are still excited for something that’s unique to this place, for something to call their own.”