Milk Producer - July 2009 - (Page 32)

The Rands have added to their product list by listening to their customers, Jeanita says. They attend four farmers markets a week, including the current Halifax Saturday market. “Our customers tell us what they like and don’t like. They also want to buy local,” she says. “That’s how we get our feedback.” As a result, Fox Hill introduced natural yogurt in 2006 in just two flavours, plain and vanilla made with pure Madagascar vanilla beans. “It’s done really well,” she says. This same personal market research led them to introduce gelato and the decision to move into fluid milk. Their on-farm store, The Fox Hill Cheese House, in picturesque countryside just an hour from Halifax is another drawing card. Up to six local wineries have taken root in the area and, as Jeanita notes, their products pair well with cheese. Fox Hill joined Taste of Nova Scotia, a provincial marketing initiative, right after going into the cheese business. It connects food producers, restaurants and consumers to promote the province as a culinary destination. “It’s been a really good tool,” she says. While building the Fox Hill brand has been a lot of hard work, she believes on-farm processing offers opportunities for farmers. “It’s important to have good quality and consistent quality products,” she says. “Also, work with regulators. You can’t cut corners.” first and then work closely with the regulatory authorities.” Yolanda’s parents, Arie and Anneke, founded Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm in 1981, shortly after immigrating to Canada from Holland. They started milking 50 to 60 cows in a converted beef barn for the expressed purpose of making cheese under B.C.’s Cottage Industry Program. Gouda fills B.C. niche On the opposite side of the country, Yolanda Gort offers similar advice from Salmon Arm, British Columbia. “Do your research,” says the plant manager of Gort’s Gouda Cheese Farm. “Find out what you need to do 32 | July 2009 | MilkPRODUCER They saw little reason to make cheddar since Armstrong Cheese dominated that market in B.C. However, several Europeans had settled in the area and the Gorts saw an opportune market for Gouda. Yolanda’s sister spent a year back in Holland learning how to make it. They started the cheese business with a provincial license and within a few years got federally licensed as well so they could sell their products across Canada. Yolanda recalls the family working closely with the CFIA inspector from Vernon. Marketing their cheese gave the Gorts an abrupt wake-up call. “My parents were of the view that ‘if you build it they will come,’” she says with a laugh. “It didn’t quite work out that way.” The on-farm store provided some sales but not nearly enough, Yolanda says. “My dad actually had to go on the road to get our products in area stores. We also sold our cheese at farmers markets.” Wholesale markets initially provided up to 80 per cent of their sales. Over the years, more customers started coming to the on-farm store, which now accounts for 60 per cent of sales. Gort’s Gouda has become a staple cheese in the area, and gets great local support, she says. The Gorts gradually added more products, including Quark, a soft German cheese, and oldfashioned yogurt. The business took a new turn in January when it introduced organic nonhomogenized milk in glass bottles. Two years ago, Gary and Kathy Wikkerink bought the farm and cheese plant, bringing some quota with them. That quota has allowed the fluid milk launch. “The volumes are small so far, but it’s doing well,” says Yolanda, who stayed on as plant manager after the sale. Her father, Arie, now in his 70s, still contributes to the business, too. He was around 70 when he converted the dairy herd to organic production and started milking Brown Swiss and Milking Shorthorns, breeds his research told him would thrive on pasture-based production. Compared to when the Gorts first launched the business in 1981, there is a much better market now for products from small-scale, on-farm processing, Yolanda says. “People are more sophisticated now,” she explains. “Yes, there are still the WalMarts and so on, but for a lot of people it is important to know where their food comes from.”

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Milk Producer - July 2009

Milk Producer - July 2009
Contents
Editor's Notes
DFO Chair's Message
Dairy Update
DFC Promotion
Farm Finance
Producer Profile
Small But Vibrant
Research
Applied Science
Ruminations
Markets
New 'N' Noted
Back Forty

Milk Producer - July 2009