Artisan Cheese « Build A New Life in Prince Edward County

Making Cheese on The Farm

Contributed by Karin Desveaux-Potters, Gastronomy Cluster, Economic Development Office

Farming is a difficult, often unreliable business and because of that, farmers are some of the best innovators out there. It is rare to find a farm with a single revenue source; more often than not farmers tend to have off-farm jobs or several revenue streams within their overall operations to make the whole thing work. Dairy farming is no exception.

In 2010, the Dairy Farmers of Ontario (DFO) piloted a project that encouraged and assisted dairy farms to add “on-farm processing” into their sales mix called “Project Farmgate“. Under this pilot project, select farms were assisted with market development support and staff resources to liaise with the provincial ministry for plant approvals in the pasteurization and processing of fluid milk, cheese and butter.

There is clearly a market for dairy products processed on-farm; buying cheese, butter or milk on the farm it was made at is pretty much the ultimate local-food sourcing experience. With the current artisan food trends that focus on small batch, handcrafted products including artisan cheese, the timing couldn’t be better. The success of the pilot program was recognized at the DFO’s annual general meeting this past week when the organization opted to support on-farm processing in their current strategic plan. This is excellent news for existing dairy farms who want to transition into value-add opportunities such as farm gate sales of cheese, butter and fluid milk.

Dairy farms interested in the on-farm processing opportunity should contact the DFO for more information.

If you would like to invest in gastronomy in Prince Edward County, please contact me at 613.476.2148 x433 or email kdesveaux-potters@pecounty.on.ca

Tags: Artisan Cheese, butter, cheese, Dairy Farmers of Ontario, farm gate sales, Farming, fluid milk, innovators, Local Food, on-farm processing, pilot project, small batch, value-add opportunities
Comments (2) | Posted over two years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters

Farming Innovation at Vicki’s Veggies

Contributed by Karin Desveaux-Potters, Gastronomy Cluster, Economic Development Office

Looking for the perfect last-minute Christmas gift that won’t go unused and is sure to delight even the toughest-to-buy for? Give the gift of food…give Veggie Bucks!

Veggie Bucks are the innovative, cash-flow stimulation brain child of Vicki Emlaw and Tim Noxon who own and operate Vicki’s Veggies on Morrison Point Road in Prince Edward County. Operating in a similar way to CSA’s (community shared agriculture) on a pay now for future food premise, the Veggie Bucks are essentially vouchers that eaters purchase now, generating cash flow for the farm in the slow season to allow them to purchase seed for the following year. They can be redeemed for vegetables when they have grown and become available again.

“We gave the traditional CSA model a good run for many years but being in a rural setting made managing a relatively small demographic willing to commit year-after year to weekly boxes a real chore. Not very many customers can make the commitment to 20 weeks of a set box of veggies” Tim told me.”Offering Veggie-Bucks as an option really streamlined operations for us on the farm and provided greater flexibility to our customers”.

Vicki shared “We have a fantastic base of customers really caring about where their food comes from – people are stepping up to the plate in the local food movement and voting with their wallets – they really want good food and are eager to help support small farms in a sustainable way”

Other farms across the province operate in a similar way. Montforte Dairy even used the approach as a way to generate start-up capitol for their new location of their artisan cheese dairy earlier this year, as profiled in the Globe and Mail . Veggie Bucks can be redeemed anywhere Vicki’s Veggies produce is sold, including the Evergreen Brickworks and Green Barn Market in Toronto!

Tags: Artisan Cheese, CSA, dairy, Evergreen Brickworks, Globe and Mail, Green Barn Market, Montforte Dairy, Prince Edward County, sustainable, Toronto, vegetables, Veggie Bucks, Vicki's Veggies
Comments (12) | Posted over two years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters

Some Cheese with your Wine?

written by Karin Desveaux-Potters

The synergy between cheese and wine here in Prince Edward County is natural and rapidly gaining momentum!

Excitement is building throughout the Canadian cheese industry about the Ontario Cheese Society’s AGM this Monday April 26, 2010 at Hart House in Toronto.

One of the objectives of this year’s AGM is for the Society to become a national organization and as a result will have cheese makers from across the country in attendance.

Dan Taylor and I, along with Andrew Redden from Hastings County, will be there representing “Invest in Cheese”, the development initiative for Artisan Cheese in Eastern Ontario.

Invest in Cheese (visit www.investincheese.ca) is honored to be participating this year as a Platinum Sponsor.

Prince Edward County will have additional profile at the event as the evening marketplace will feature PEC beverages exclusively. Participating will be 33 Vines Winery, Barley Days Brewery, Black Prince Winery, Closson Chase, The County Cider Company Estate Winery, The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyard and Estate Winery, Huff Estates, Rosehall Run and Sandbanks Estate Winery.

As you may be aware, there is a lot happening in Eastern Ontario, Canada’s newest emerging Artisan Cheese Region. Cheese is a growth industry, and with our deep history in dairy production we are the ideal place to locate a new dairy venture.

Our objective with Invest in Cheese is to find and make connections with people who have an interest in getting into the artisan cheese business and helping them make their cheese dream a reality in our region!

If you or somebody you know has interest or aspirations of becoming involved in the cheese industry, we need to meet and connect on Monday!

Tags: 33 Vines Winery, Artisan Cheese, Barley Days Brewery, Black Prince Winery, cheese, Cheese is a growth industry, Closson Chase, Eastern Ontario, history in dairy, Huff Estates, Invest in Cheese, Prince Edward County, Rosehall Run, Sandbanks Estate Winery, The County Cider Company Estate Winery, The Grange of Prince Edward Vineyard and Estate Winery, wine
Comments (1) | Posted over three years ago by Karin Desveaux-Potters