As an 8-year-old, Kurt Beecher Dammeier concocted a butter-and-sugar reduction, transforming his family’s cinnamon toast. As a teen, he pondered the operations of places like the Farman Brothers Pickle Company that 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 (’82 Econ.) is the owner and head chef of Sugar Mountain, comprising luxury food brands and restaurants. The company produces award-winning Beecher’s Handmade Cheese and manages The Butcher’s Table, a Seattle steakhouse featuring his premium American wagyu beef brand, Mishima Reserve.
“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.”
When he bought Mishima Ranch in 2017 he “recognized people loved wagyu, and it would be a good growth market,” says Dammeier, who changed the name to Mishima Reserve. The cattle are fed only high-quality, vegetarian feeds and are never given hormones or growth supplements. He uses artificial intelligence tools for managing animal production across categories including genetics, feed, weather, and location.
Sugar Mountain’s biggest growth engine is packaged foods such as frozen mac and cheese.
The common thread: commitment to pure ingredients and practices and 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,” Dammeier says.
Dammeier discussed his brand and guiding principles during the Carson College of Business Power Breakfast in Seattle last September, noting employee empowerment and transparency are other hallmarks of his leadership.
At Washington State University, 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.
Dammeier also influences eating habits through his books, Pure Flavor and Pure Food, as well as The Beecher’s Foundation, an educational program for fourth graders on healthy food choices and production. In addition to promoting clean ingredients, Sugar Mountain significantly invests in reducing plastics and carbon emissions.
“I spend time in appreciation of my team and cook lunch for them every week,” he says, noting the company employs a 360-degree 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.”