Founded | 1987 |
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Founders |
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Headquarters | , New Zealand |
Website | whitestonecheese |
Whitestone Cheese is one of the New Zealand South Island's leading cheese companies. The company is based in Oamaru, and takes its name from the limestone known as Oamaru stone which is quarried locally. The cheese is made with no artificial additives and milk from local regional livestock.
Whitestone Cheese was founded in 1987 by Bob and Sue Berry, former farmers, in response to crippling droughts and a rural downturn in the 1980s. [1] [2] The company moved to new larger premises in Torridge Street, Oamaru in 1998, [3] now employs over 70 people (as at October 2017), [4] and now exports to countries such as the United States. [5] [6] Simon Berry is managing director. [7]
Most of the company's cheese varieties have won awards. The company's original Farmhouse cheese won the 2005 Champion Original Cheese Award, [8] with the Windsor Blue cheese winning the Champion of Champions Award at the 2006 New Zealand Cheese Awards. The same cheese won the gold medal in international competition the same year at the 2006 Brisbane International Cheese Awards. [5] Since then the company has racked up a considerable number of other awards at the national level.
Year | Event | Awards and medals | Reference |
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2010 | New Zealand Champions of Cheese awards | 23 medals – six gold, nine silver, eight bronze Four gold awards for cheeses:
Two gold awards for packaging – Whitestone's cheese tin and its four cheese platter sold in supermarkets | [9] |
2011 | Cuisine New Zealand Champions of Cheese competition | Two awards and 34 medals (seven gold, 10 silver and 17 bronze) The two awards were for:
| [10] |
The company emphasises the regional nature of the cheese by naming its cheese varieties after local places. Whitestone makes 23 different specialist cheeses, the most well-known of which is Whitestone Windsor Blue. Other varieties made include Waitaki Camembert, Whitestone Farmhouse, Whitestone Brie, Mt Domet Double Cream Brie, Moeraki Bay Blue, Highland Blue, Totara Tasty, Manuka Feta, and four sheep's milk cheeses (notably Monte Cristo). Three goat's milk cheeses are also made: Parson's Rock, Duntroon and Danseys Pass.
Cheddar cheese is a natural cheese that is relatively hard, off-white, and sometimes sharp-tasting. It originates from the English village of Cheddar in Somerset, South West England.
Oamaru is the largest town in North Otago, in the South Island of New Zealand, it is the main town in the Waitaki District. It is 80 kilometres (50 mi) south of Timaru and 120 kilometres (75 mi) north of Dunedin on the Pacific coast; State Highway 1 and the railway Main South Line connect it to both cities. With a population of 14,350, Oamaru is the 28th largest urban area in New Zealand, and the third largest in Otago behind Dunedin and Queenstown. The town is the seat of Waitaki District, which includes the surrounding towns of Kurow, Weston, Palmerston, and Hampden, which combined have a total population of 23,200.
Brie is a soft cow's-milk cheese named after Brie, the French region from which it originated. It is pale in colour with a slight greyish tinge under a rind of white mould. The rind is typically eaten, with its flavour depending largely upon the ingredients used and its manufacturing environment. It is similar to Camembert, which is native to a different region of France. Brie typically contains between 60% and 75% butterfat, slightly higher than Camembert.
Caerphilly is a hard, crumbly white cheese that originated in the area around the town of Caerphilly, Wales. It is thought to have been created to provide food for the local coal miners. The Caerphilly of that period had a greater moisture content, and was made in local farms. At the start of the 20th century, competition for milk in the local area saw production decline, and Caerphilly production was gradually relocated to England.
Camembert is a moist, soft, creamy, surface-ripened cow's milk cheese. It was first made in the late 18th century in Camembert, Normandy, in northwest France. It is sometimes compared in look, taste and texture to brie cheese, albeit with a slightly lower butterfat content than brie's typical 20% – 25% by weight.
Ardrahan Farmhouse Cheese creates two varieties of cheese. They originate from Ardrahan Farmhouse, Kanturk, County Cork in Ireland. The two varieties are Ardrahan and Duhallow. Eugene and Mary Burns first made Ardrahan cheese on their farm in County Cork in 1983 using traditional techniques. Both varieties are made entirely from the milk of the Burnses' cow herd, which is composed of Friesian cows.
Cooleeney Farm produces a number of cheeses from both cow's milk and goat's milk from their premises near Thurles in County Tipperary, Ireland.
The Ngapara and Tokarahi Branches were two connected railway branch lines in northern Otago, New Zealand, part of the national rail network. The Ngapara Branch opened in 1877 and almost all of it closed in 1959; the remaining few kilometres, called the Waiareka Industrial Line, were removed in 1997. The Tokarahi Branch branched off the Ngapara Branch. It operated from 1887 until 1930 and was originally known as the Livingstone Branch, though it never progressed beyond Tokarahi to Livingstone. In early 2008 there is a proposal to reinstate the first 4.5 km of the Ngapara Branch.
Coulommiers is a soft ripened cheese from Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne, France. It is made from cow's milk, and is usually in the shape of a disc with white, bloomy, edible Penicillium candidum rind. When produced as an artisanal or "farmhouse" cheese from unpasteurized milk, it has some reddish blush in parts of the rind. The period of ripening when made of pasteurised whole milk is about four to six weeks. The fat content is 40 per cent.
J&L Grubb is an Irish cheese manufacturer, making cows' milk and goats' milk cheeses on their farm near Fethard, County Tipperary.
Beecher's Handmade Cheese is an artisan cheesemaker with retail locations in the greater Seattle area and several airports. The company was founded by Kurt Beecher Dammeier in 2003 and opened in Pike Place Market after Dammeier acquired a difficult-to-obtain storefront lease in the Market. Because Dammeier had never been a cheesemaker, he sought out the assistance of Brad Sinko, who helped run a family cheesemaking business in Oregon. A second location was opened in 2011 Manhattan's Flatiron District; this closed in October, 2022.
The Marin French Cheese Company is a manufacturer of artisan cheese located in rural west Marin County, California. The company was founded in 1865 by Jefferson Thompson, and produces cheeses under the Marin French Cheese brand name. It is the oldest continually operating cheese manufacturer in the United States.
Glyde Farm Produce was set up in 1996 by Peter Thomas who spent the next several years researching the market in Ireland for suitable dairy products. Peter and Anita Thomas started making Bellingham Blue cheese at their family farm at Mansfieldtown in County Louth, Ireland, in 2000.
Carrigaline Farmhouse Cheese is a maker of semi-soft cheese made from cow's milk in Carrigaline, County Cork in Ireland. The O'Farrell family have produced cheeses on their farm in County Cork since 1988 using milk from their Friesian cow herd. The O'Farrell family business has since grown into a producer of artisan cheeses which have won several accolades and international cheese awards.
Abbey Cheese was an Irish cheese manufacturer, making cows' milk and goats' milk cheeses in Portlaoise, County Laois. The manufacturing company, Abo Cheese Company Limited, ended operation in 2017.
Wicklow Farmhouse Cheese is a range of handmade cow's milk cheese made in Arklow, County Wicklow ranging from Brie cheeses to Cheddar cheese. A range of cheese are produced varying from fresh soft cheese to a Gouda style hard cheese.