Saying cheese for nearly four decades
A little corner of South Otago has something to smile about.
Stirling Fonterra has been saying cheese for 36 years, and takes a considerable slice of New Zealand’s cheese-making action as one of the biggest producers in the country.
October is New Zealand cheese month and this week the Stirling plant is honouring its cheese makers.
In the last financial year, the factory near Balclutha made at least 47,000 metric tonnes of cheddar and delivered $264 million of revenue for Fonterra.
About 90 per cent of its cheese is exported to key markets including South Korea and Japan.
Team supervisor Daniel Haar said Stirling had the distinction of being one of the few plants that did not standardise its milk.
Cheese making is a simple yet complicated process.
Ten vats hold 30,000 litres of product.
The whole process from milk to cheese takes five hours, with the plant producing 10,500 20-kilogram blocks of cheese per day, spitting out 10 blocks per minute.
‘‘Making cheese is like baking a cake. You’ve got to have the right ingredients and the right amount of heat.’’
Top cheese maker Malcolm (Monty) Montgomerie, 58, has been in the dairy industry for more than 36 years, first in Palmerston North, and then at Fonterra Stirling for the past 23 years.
His father was also a cheese maker. ‘‘When I started, it was all done by hand. It’s a lot different now with automation. Still, I always go with my gut feeling.
‘‘There’s always adjustments you have to make, and knowing what to do comes with experience.’’
Milk tends to be a barometer of the conditions in which it is produced.
Milk changes throughout the year. In spring, the site is at peak capacity processing 1.8 million litres of milk every day and the milk is very consistent in quality.
However, during winter when it is cold and the animals are using more fat, there will be more fat in the milk, and when it is hot, there will be less.
Cheese should age for at least six months, and vintage for three years.
‘‘We tend to eat our cheese too young in New Zealand because of the demand.’’
After a lifetime of cheese making, his favourite way to eat cheese is simply to grill it on toast.
Cheese making may have skipped a generation in his family – none of his children has shown an inclination to be the third generation.
‘‘I’ve got hopes for the grandchildren.’’