Little River cheese wins big!
Boutique cheesemaker Little River Estate was named one of four supreme winners at the NZ Champions of Cheese Awards last month.
The pasture to cheese-platter operation in the Bay of Islands this year won the Champion of Champions title at the New Zealand Cheese Awards with its Very Old Edam. Mahoe and that particular cheese are no newcomers to awards. But this time Mahoe’s operation topped 25 tonnes which tipped it over from the artisan category to compete and win against the big players.
The same cheese won artisan category the three previous years and Bob’s son Jacob won the Champion Cheesemaker Award in 2012 and 2013. Mature Gouda won the Dutch style category in 2013.
Three of Rosevear’s four sons – Jacob, Jesse (another cheesemaker) and Tim (a farmer) – help him run the operation at Oromahoe, south of Kerikeri. Another son was also involved until a severely debilitating medical mishap four years ago.
Rosevear says the secret to his success is “his boys”. “And the rest of the eight staff who run it – it is not any one person really.”
But Rosevear told Dairy News, that Mahoe had been a success since it kicked off in 1986. A Wellingtonian, Rosevear bought the land with wife Anna and other family in the 1970s. The couple initially had an orchard then were dairy farming.
Cheesemaking started when they bought some plant off a Dutch cheesemaker and built the factory. They had been buying this cheesemaker’s product and “it seemed the natural thing to investigate”. The then Rural Bank, to Rosevear’s surprise, approved the loan 100%, initially estimated at just $20,000, but somehow start-up costs ballooned out to $220,000 – at a time when interest rates rocketed to 23%.
But Rosevear says he never worried – he knew he had a winner. “With our first lot of cheese we had an open factory and all the locals came. I knew it was going to be successful. It was beautiful cheese and the reaction was great.”
They now ship a broad range of cheese all around mainly the North Island plus sell from the farm shop and at Bay of Islands farmer markets. Rosevear reckons most top Auckland restaurants stock their Very Old Edam and Blue Cheese.
They have Dutch style cheese such as Gouda or Edam and specialise in very old varieties. They also make Feta style, Halloumi style, handmade Mozerella bocconcini balls, quark, washed rind cheeses, Swiss-French style cheeses and yoghurt.
All milk for the cheese comes off the farm from their herd of 58 mainly Friesians. Key farm practices include not sending the bobby calves away and feeding stock well. Even in good production years they are not tempted to buy in more stock, and in dryer times, such as this year, there’s still plenty of feed available with such a low stocking rate.
The operation is seven days a week – the onfarm shop now closes on Sundays but there are still cows to be milked and cheese to make. It’s demanding but a big plus is “complete independence”, says Rosevear.
