Cheese sells

Georgs Kolesnikovs promoting the Great Canadian Cheese Festival at Pomodoro in Wellington last week.

Great Canadian Cheese Festival expecting 3,000 visitors

Georgs Kolesnikovs loves cheese. He loves the taste, the smell and the texture of cheese.

A few years ago he decided to organize an exhibition dedicated to Canadian cheese. He had organized trade shows and exhibitions before but nothing with food. At about the same time Prince Edward County along with three neighbouring counties had formed a partnership to lever federal dollars to promote locally produced cheese.

County council in one of its first acts of the current term, backed out of the regional arrangement refusing to invest in the sector. But Kolesnikovs wasn’t deterred. He had gained strong market intelligence from the County’s former economic development office. And one glimpse of the Crystal Palace in Picton and it was clear to him that this was where the Great Canadian Cheese Festival had to be.

It would be a celebration of Canadian produced artisan cheese—honouring craftsmanship, creativity and innovation. There was still a problem.

“How do I persuade people to drive three hours to taste cheese?” said Kolesnikovs on the origins of the Great Canadian Cheese Festival.

He understood that to be successful the show had to draw cheese lovers from Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. An urban setting, he knew wouldn’t work, but putting the show in Prince Edward County was risky.

It turns out he had nothing to worry about. Hundreds of folks filed through the fairgrounds that first June weekend in 2011. This year Kolesnikovs expects more than 3,000 people to attend the two-day show running June 7 and 8.

With a hit on his hands, Kolesnikovs says he has been urged by some to move the festival around the country—but he doesn’t think it’s a good idea. Nor do the folks who come to the festival. In fact 90 per cent of festival attendees said they want to come back according to participant surveys he has conducted. And 82 per cent would rather the show stay in Prince Edward County than move closer to their urban home, whether in Toronto, Ottawa or Montreal.

The best cheesemakers in the country now make the pilgrimage each year to Picton from Prince Edward Island to British Columbia. The show is also increasingly becoming a mecca for artisanal food producers–from pickle makers and hot sauce preparers to producers of sauerkraut and kimchi. From 38 such producers Kolesnikovs extend nearly 60 artisanial food makers to showcase their products in Picton this year. It is also another important opportunity for County winemakers and cideries to promote their products for a different audience.

Buffalo mozzarella and fresh leek.

The Great Canadian Cheess Festival along with the increasingly popular Terroir event, are serving to make Prince Edward County the centre of the fine food and wine universe each spring. The economic impact upon the County is surely measured in the millions of dollars. Surprisingly it is the Bay of Quinte, Dairy Farmers and the Province of Ontario that have stepped up to sponsor the Great Canadian Cheese Festival. Presumably, County council is waiting for something better to come along.