Our Story

Bringing Chechil Tradition to the U.S.

Welcome to Chechil, where artisanal craftsmanship meets natural goodness in every string of cheese. We started Chechil in 2013 through a Kickstarter campaign with one goal: to make fresh, handcrafted Chechil in the United States.

During our travels overseas, we discovered Chechil and fell in love with its bold flavor, hand-pulled texture, and unique way of being shared with drinks, meals, and gatherings. But when we looked for it in the U.S., we could not find it made fresh, with the same quality and flavor we remembered.

So we set out to make Chechil here, the right way.

The Problem We Saw

A Traditional Cheese Snack We Couldn’t Find Fresh

Chechil has roots across Armenia, Georgia, Russia, Turkey, and Central Asia. In many places, especially Russia and Central Asia, it became known as a favorite beer snack because of its salty flavor, pull apart texture, and shareable style.

In the U.S., most Chechil was imported. By the time it reached customers, it often had a shorter remaining shelf life, relied on preservatives, or did not taste as fresh as it should. We believed customers deserved better.

That is why we decided to make Chechil in the United States with fresh ingredients, small batch production, hand braided craftsmanship, and no preservatives.

Learning the Craft

Learning the Craft, Then Making It Our Own

To bring Chechil to the U.S., we traveled to production facilities across Europe to learn the traditional process. We studied how the cheese is stretched, brined, twisted, braided, smoked, packed, and delivered.

Chechil is not a simple snack to make. Every batch takes time, skill, and care. The cheese is stretched, brined for flavor and salt, hand braided into the famous figure eight shape known as Kosichka, and then smoked with real hickory woodchips for our smoked varieties.

That labor is what makes Chechil different from ordinary cheese snacks, imported products, chips, crackers, pretzels, or basic cheese cubes.

Today, Chechil is proudly made in Upstate New York using small batch production and all natural ingredients.

Quality and Standards

The First and Only U.S. Producer of Chechil

We are proud to be the first and only U.S. producer of Chechil.

Our facility is USDA inspected, SQF Level 2 certified, HACCP certified, and built to support retail and supermarket partners across the country. We make Chechil in small batches with all natural ingredients, no preservatives, and a commitment to freshness from production to delivery.

Where We Are Today

From a Few Cases to Stores Across the U.S.

Chechil started with a few local deliveries to bars, restaurants, and Russian banyas in Brooklyn. From there, we grew one account at a time.

A major milestone came when we partnered with GMI Trading. Today, Chechil is available through GMI Trading, all NetCost Market locations, and more than 500 stores across the United States.

We have also shared Chechil at Fancy Food Shows, craft beer events, food festivals, and sampling events where people experience the product the best way:

Peel it. Share it. Pair it.

Find Chechil Near You

Bring home the fresh, handcrafted cheese snack that started as a tradition and is now made here in the United States.

About Us