No small cheese

Jenna Setlakwe, Adam Blanchard and Julia Bannister of Five Brothers Cheese from St. John’s, Newfoundland.

Festival becoming the focal point for artisanal food and drink producers

They came from Vancouver Island and Newfoundland—and seemingly everywhere in between. In its third year, the The Great Canadian Cheese Festival has truly earned its name—for it was both great and truly Canadian.

There was cheese from Quebec, beer from Vancouver, buffalo from Ontario and wines from the County as well as Niagara. In all there were about 150 vendors—a third offering cheese, a third artisan food makers and the remainder a cross section of wineries, breweries and specialty vendors and service providers.

For some this is the only trade and consumer show they attend.

Margaret Peters operates Glengarry Fine Cheese in Lancaster, Ontario. She has attended the Cheese festival all three years. Other than some small events in Glengarry this is the only show she attends.”

“It’s getting better every year,” said Peters. “Artisan cheese is a grassroots business—we don’t have a lot of opportunity to see what others do and compare ourselves. This show gives us a opporunty to introduce our product to a wider market but also develop relationships with other producers and widen our understanding of our markets.”

Adam Blanchard of Five Brothers Cheese is the only cheesemaker in Newfoundland—all other cheese is imported. His dairy is still small and serves only the St. John’s and area market.

He attended the show for similar reasons as Peters.

Pieter Van Oudernaren of Mariposa Dairy in Lindsay.

“In Newfoundland we are on our own,” said Blanchard. “There is no one else we can talk to or learn from. This show enables me to meet other cheesemakers and understand how they solve certain problems and issues.”

Peta Shelton is a volunteer for the Great Canadian Cheese Festival.

She says the show is growing rapidly—noting how it has expanded beyond the Crystal Palace and environs and now includes the curling club building. Even with this added capacity it was a challenge to house all the exhibitors.

On Saturday the halls were packed elbow to elbow with visitors to the show, according to Shelton. By mid-afternoon on Sunday many of the vendors had sold out of their samples.

She noted, as well, that visitors this year appeared to be more knowledgeable about the various products and were coming with specific interest in mind.

“It really is a national event,” said Shelton. “We have five grand champion cheese makers here.”

But the event now is clearly much more than just cheese. Producers of fine artisanal food and drink have concluded the Great Canadian Cheese Festival in Prince Edward County is where they need to be.