|
VILLAGE CHEESE COMMITTED TO QUALITY
Village Cheese Company president Dwight Johnson believes the relationship goes even further in the Okanagan.
"For a long time people bought wines from Europe and didn't pay any attention to Okanagan wines," said Dwight Johnson. "It took about 20 years, but now people are appreciating the quality and paying a premium for Okanagan wines." "We probably have to go through the same type of thing. We have to educate people to our quality so they know our locally-produced cheese is every bit as good, if not better, than the cheeses they are used to buying."
Now in its third year of operation, Village Cheese has been a gradual growth in the popularity of its award-winning cheeses.
Johnson and third-generation cheese-maker Ivan Matte began the Armsrtong-based company with the intention of producing a different product to find a niche.Cheddar Cheese is a very competitive market in Canada and a smaller company like Village Cheese is hard-pressed to compete with the larger companies.
" Production is up and our product is being sold across the country," said Johnson.
"We take pride in the quality of our cheese. In Canada, cheddar cheese has become an item moms feed kids when they come home from school. We want to try and make it the gourmet item it can be.
"It's a lot of work marketing Farmstead(our source of milk) Artisan (traditional cheesemaking) cheese, but it's also rewarding."
With a long list of new cheddars like maple cheddar (only one in the world) Pacific Salmon, Smokehouse, and increasingly popular Suicidally Hot Horse Radish cheese, the company's loyal following is expanding.
"We opened a satellite store in the Orchard Park Mall in Kelowna just to try and increase our profile," said Johnson. "It's important to get our product out there so people are able to sample it and become those loyal customers."
Even the most discerning of critics sing the praises of Village Cheese. The company has already won a ton of awards, including several at this year's Royal Winter Fair for aged, medium and mild cheddar as well as maple cheddar.
"The awards are a good gauge for us because they're being judged by other cheesemakers," said Johnson. "If we kept entering contests and weren't winning it would be a sure sign that the quality wasn't there. But because we're winning so many awards, it tells us that our quality is second to none.
"The quality comes from Matte's commitment to producing cheese in a traditional way.
"When you're small like this you have to be versatile and willing to try different things,"said Matte. "Even the way we produce cheddar here is different and is done the old traditional way where we have the fresh curds on a daily basis and a low moisture product (better keeping quality)."
Cheese is produced three times a week, with busier seasons like pre Christmas seeing production increase.
Village cheese employs three people in the production area and nine others in the retail store, which is open seven days a week.
The store, located in the old Crane's's Drive In site,has a production facility with a huge viewing area so customers can watch the step by step production of the cheese. It also features a large retail space.
|