Cottage cheese has long been considered a nutritional afterthought—until Jesse Merrill’s personal health journey transformed an entire category.
In 2014, Jesse Merrill faced a critical health challenge when diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, an autoimmune gut disease characterized by chronic inflammation. Rejecting traditional medical advice that suggested lifelong medication, Merrill embarked on a radical dietary transformation.
By adopting an immaculate diet focused on cultured dairy, grass-fed proteins, cooked vegetables, and fruit, Merrill experienced a remarkable recovery. Within four weeks, his symptoms subsided, and after three years, he had completely reversed his condition.
This experience catalyzed Good Culture, crystallizing his belief that “food is medicine.”
Category Context: A Sleepy Market Awaiting Transformation
The cottage cheese market has been characterized by:
– Flat to declining sales over the past decade
– Dominated by legacy brands like Kraft and Daisy
– Perceived as a dated, diet-focused product
– Annual market size of approximately $1.2 billion in the United States
Good Culture has differentiated itself through several key strategic moves:
“Cottage Cheese is a nutrient-dense, high-protein, overlooked super-food. The sleepy $1.1B cottage cheese category had become stale and boring. The category lacked innovation and relevance, so we created better cottage cheese that would resonate with today’s consumer.”
Jesse Merrill
Regenerative Agriculture Mission
Good Culture’s commitment extends beyond traditional dairy farming, focusing on a transformative approach to agricultural practices. They are dedicated to revolutionizing dairy production through pasture-raised milk supply, deeply emphasizing addressing animal welfare and environmental concerns. They create a more sustainable and ethical framework for milk sourcing by reimagining how dairy can be responsibly produced.
Premium Organic Positioning
The company prides itself on an unwavering commitment to organic excellence. Its products feature exclusively organic ingredients, focusing on grass-fed milk sourcing to ensure the highest-quality nutritional profile. Maintaining a clean label approach offers consumers a product with minimal, carefully selected, high-quality ingredients that reflect our dedication to transparency and purity.
Innovative Flavor Profiles
Breaking free from traditional cottage cheese offerings, Good Culture crafts unique and exciting flavor combinations that captivate health-conscious consumers. Its approach goes beyond standard dairy products, creating taste experiences that are both innovative and nutritionally compelling. By challenging conventional expectations, the company appeals to discerning consumers seeking extraordinary culinary experiences without compromising health and quality.
Good Culture
Both Merrill and Eisner have proven track records in transforming businesses. Before their current venture, Merrill demonstrated his marketing expertise at Honest Tea, where he played a pivotal role in the company’s dramatic expansion.
As key team members, the Honest Tea brand evolved from a niche natural foods player generating less than $10 million to a powerhouse that achieved $70 million in revenue, ultimately attracting an acquisition by Coca-Cola in 2011.
Following this success, Merrill teamed up with Michael Eisner’s son at ACTIVATE Drinks, an enhanced water company Eisner had founded. Serving as the marketing chief while Anders Eisner led the company, they successfully steered ACTIVATE to an acquisition within three years. Building on their complementary strengths, the duo co-founded Good Culture, with Merrill taking the helm as CEO and Eisner serving as chairman.
Marketing Strategy: Building Trial and Awareness
Good Culture employed a multifaceted marketing approach centered on purpose-driven storytelling. By leveraging the founder’s personal health narrative, the company created transparent communication about its mission and values, effectively connecting its product to broader health and environmental goals. This strategy went beyond traditional marketing by establishing a meaningful dialogue with consumers about holistic wellness and sustainable practices.
The brand’s strategic retail positioning further amplified its narrative by targeting health food stores and progressive retailers. It developed a modern, clean packaging design that visually reinforced its unique brand story, allowing the product’s ethos to be immediately communicated through its aesthetic presentation. This approach ensured that even before consumers read the label or tasted the product, they could sense the brand’s commitment to quality, health, and innovation.
Performance and Market Impact
Since its launch, Good Culture has achieved remarkable growth. In under five years, it grew from a startup to a $100 million+ brand, secured significant shelf space in major retailers, and captured approximately 5% of the cottage cheese market share.
In an interview with Meggen Harris on Forbes, Jesse said:
“Good Culture has experienced fast growth since launching. We are in close to 10K doors, including Whole Foods, Sprouts, Target, Walmart, Kroger, ShopRite, Stop & Shop, Giant, and more. We grew 300% last year vs. the prior year. It is so exciting to shake up a stale category with innovation that resonates while making real food that heals more accessible. We are expecting sales to exceed 100% growth again this year. In 5 years, we hope to be a category leader playing across several adjacent categories.”
Three Strategic Takeaways
1. Personal Narrative as Brand Strategy
Merrill transformed a personal health challenge into a compelling brand mission, demonstrating how authentic stories can drive market disruption.
2. Holistic Product Development
Good Culture proves that successful brands go beyond product—they solve systemic problems in food production and consumption.
3. Mission-Driven Innovation
The brand created deeper consumer connections beyond traditional marketing by addressing environmental, health, and agricultural challenges.
Good Culture represents a masterclass in purposeful entrepreneurship—reimagining a product and an entire approach to food, health, and sustainability. With its innovative approach and bold flavor profile, Good Culture has proven that cottage cheese isn’t just a diet staple—it’s a culinary canvas ripe for reinvention, whey-ting to be discovered by a new generation of food enthusiasts.
PS – I love this little Easter Egg hidden in the UPC code on the Good Culture cottage cheese I bought. Charming.
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