Nikolai Vereshchagin, traveling through Switzerland, first saw how peasants in mountain villages make cheese and decided to organize a similar production in Russia, in the village of Otrakovichi in the Tver province. This took place in the 1860s-1870s.

At first, banks refused to give Vereshchagin credit, as he had neither real estate nor experience in cheese-making. However, he did not give up and sent letters requesting loans to various institutions, including the Imperial Free Economic Society, which supported promising initiatives. Eventually, Vereshchagin found himself in Tver, although he initially considered the Yaroslavl province. He was recommended Tver due to the economic difficulties that arose after the opening of the railway.

After receiving a loan of 3,750 rubles from the Tver Land Bank, Vereshchagin first paid 400 rubles for a merchant's first guild certificate, as nobles were prohibited from engaging in trade. He found out where the post stations were previously located in Tver to hire workers for the cheese factory. In the village of Otrakovichi, where each peasant household had a cow, Vereshchagin explained to the peasants that cheese and butter production would increase the income from a cow fivefold. This sparked interest, and many wanted to join his cooperative.

Vereshchagin offered the peasants to become shareholders of the cooperative by establishing a loan and savings association. The peasants were to supply the cooperative with milk, while Vereshchagin took care of finding specialists, refining technology, and marketing the products. The contract included penalties for spoiled milk and rules for cooperative members. All disputes were resolved in the presence of Vereshchagin and the cooperative's elder.

In the first year, the cheese makers produced cheddar instead of Swiss cheese, and there was so much of it that they fed it to pigs. The following year, the cooperative acquired more productive Yaroslavl cows, which increased cheese production and enriched the peasants.

Archives mention that Dmitry Mendeleev, who had an estate nearby, became a member of the cooperative and often visited Otrakovichi. There is a joke that he missed an important report to milk a cow.

However, soon everything collapsed. Due to an epizootic caused by the cattle drive route, all the cows died, and production was shut down. Vereshchagin moved the cooperative to the village of Edimonovo, where there were no routes. He realized that trained personnel were needed and decided to open a dairy school. This idea received support, and Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich even visited the cheese factories, awarding Vereshchagin with an order and allocating funds for a mutual aid fund.