Even as a child, Kurt Beecher Dammeier (’82) seemed to have innate creativity and vision in making ordinary food taste extraordinary. At age eight, when other kids were making flat little cakes in their Easy-Bake Ovens, Dammeier concocted his own butter and sugar reduction sauce that transformed everyday cinnamon toast into a gourmet experience for his family.
As a teen, Dammeier pondered the operations of food companies like the Farman’s Pickle Factory he noticed along State Route 410 on his way to ski at Crystal Mountain.
“The food aspect of my business started with my mother and leveling up cinnamon toast,” he says. “But seeing privately owned food businesses with a famous product inspired me.”
Dammeier is the highly successful owner and head chef of Sugar Mountain, a creative food company comprising luxury food brands and restaurants. The company produces award-winning cheese and other products and manages The Butcher’s Table, a Seattle steakhouse featuring his premium American Wagyu beef brand, Mishima Reserve.
He gave the keynote address during the Washington State University Carson College of Business Power Breakfast in Seattle last September, presenting examples of the truth, transparency, and empowerment that guide his approach to creating and executing top-selling brands.
Building luxury brands
Dammeier grew up in Seattle, where his culinary interest and passion only increased as he learned more about artisan foods and the benefit of natural ingredients. While studying economics at WSU, he discovered Cougar Gold Cheese, which later inspired the development of Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, launched at Pike Place Market in 2003. Flagship Reserve, Beecher’s clothbound and open-air aged cheese, has received the highest honors given to American artisan cheese. Its success speaks to Dammeier’s additive-free philosophy and the fresh milk from dairy cows that enjoy a “Four Seasons” lifestyle.
“When we started Beecher’s Handmade Cheese, we made 27,000 pounds of cheese and had 50 cows,” he says. “Now we make 8 million pounds of cheese and, with the addition of our American Wagyu beef brands, have 180,000 cows.”
He bought Mishima Ranch in 2017, seizing the opportunity to create a top beef brand with an Angus-Wagyu cross.
“I recognized people loved Wagyu, and it would be a good growth market,” he says.
He changed the name to Mishima Reserve, a rebrand he says represents truth, given there is no one ranch behind the brand. The cattle are fed only high-quality, vegetarian feeds and never given hormones or growth supplements. He uses artificial intelligence (AI) tools for managing animal production across categories including genetics, feed, weather, and location.
Dammeier also developed a brand for consumer-packaged goods, which is Sugar Mountain’s biggest growth engine—his frozen mac and cheese is the nation’s top selling entrée in the natural/organic grocery freezer category. He says Sugar Mountain is working toward expanding meat options in grocery stores with retail-ready, pre-portioned beef cuts from steaks to roasts. He envisions this approach will create efficiency and help resolve the labor shortage grocers face.
Trust, transparency, and empowerment are key business philosophies
The common thread in all of Dammeier’s ventures is a commitment to pure ingredients and practices but also a philosophy of trust.
“Your brand has to permeate through your company—there can’t be any disconnect. When I started Beecher’s, I wanted to stand for something, and so all of our brands are built on a foundation of real ingredients,” he says. “We also focus on creating premium products that are worth the money people pay for them. Our approach has built trust in our product for decades.”
Employee empowerment and transparency are other hallmarks of his leadership.
“I spend time in appreciation of my team and cook lunch for them every week,” he says, mentioning the company’s 360 review process—a method of gathering anonymous feedback from colleagues at all levels. “I really value this personal feedback. As a result, I’ve become a better CEO when conveying my values.”
Beyond the retail world, Dammeier influences people’s eating habits through his books, Pure Flavor and Pure Food, and through The Beecher’s Foundation (501c3), an educational program for fourth graders that’s focused on healthy food choices and production. In addition to promoting clean ingredients, Sugar Mountain also significantly invests in plastics and carbon reduction.