As 2010 draws to a close, we will not rest on our laurels but press on into 2011. The past few months have been really successful since we took the time to do extensive research and strategically plan for the road ahead. In other words, you don’t build a house without a plan in place.
In that sense, the past few months are actually the first in this new award winning venture and we are just now beginning to get momentum and attract attention. Investment is now starting to happen.
In this short time we have, however, had several accomplishments, namely:
- Developed the first comprehensive hand-book for starting an artisan cheese making facility (soon launched as an iPad app)
- Two entrepreneurs are now choosing to host one of their successful Craft Beer festivals in our region (beer pairs well with cheese)
- More than 100 enquiries about cheese making have been handled – but they wouldn’t be knocking on our door without this initiative
- Right now one of our County partners is coaching a local entrepreneur wanting to start an artisan cheese making operation after visiting a booth we had at a local show
This initiative is a catalyst putting our region on the map as Ontario’s Artisan Cheese Region! Cheers to another successful year in 2011!
A few months ago we took the initiative to get in touch with Culture Cheese Magazine, America’s first cheese-devoted magazine, to help spread the word about Invest In Cheese.
A unique initiative to Eastern, Ontario Invest In Cheese was launched last year to take advantage of the high groth opportunitiy in small scale and artisan cheese. This industry is currently a $300 million category in Ontario. Over the next decade, this number is expected to grow to $400 million.
The current market share of the Ontario artisan cheese industry is approximately $5 million and over the next 10 years there is an opportunity to increase the production and distribution of artisan cheese to capture a larger share of the market.
For more than a century, Eastern Ontario has been known for its cheese and combining the already existing cheese facilities in the Four-County Region, along with the knowledge of this growth opportunity, makes the region an area full of passionate and successful cheesemakers with room for many more.
One of the first steps the four Counties took together was to develop a website that focused on artisan cheese to help investors establish themselves here. Thus Invest In Cheese was born.
Last week I was like a kid on candy when the magazine arrived with our information in it. It was an exciting step in our direction forward. Here is the article snippit.
In other news, as you will have noticed, our website has had a bit of a makeover recently. Please take a little tour around and let us know what you think, we weclome your comments.
Canada’s oldest cheese factory now has the cash it needs to set up a facility designed to help them pump out more eco-friendly products. Leona Dombrowsky, MPP for Prince Edward-Hastings, was treated to thunderous applause from Ivanhoe Cheese employees, after she announced the McGuinty government will award $377,000 in provincial funding to the Madoc cheese-maker.
The Results are In
How to Start a Cheesemaking Business – Free Presentation
