The style behind building a cheese empire
Olive Puentespina’s cheesemaking story started in 2000 with three goats, Marvin, Jolina and Rica, the onset of Olive’s husband-veterinarian collection of ruminants. The number grew with each farm visit, and grew more as the goats bred. How does one earn from this hobby?
Olive bottled fresh goat’s milk to sell. It didn’t click. Goat’s milk soap was out of the question since it used very little milk. How else can milk be preserved, asked the UPLB-graduate who worked at the university’s Dairy Training and Research Institute? Cheese. So started Olive’s cheesemaking career. She took lessons from a colleague, then from two Swiss cheese masters from Pontresina, Master’s classes in San Francisco, and so on. “My cheese journey— getting educated in dairying and cheese making— has brought me to the US, Mongolia, Canada, Switzerland, Italy. And with each travel, I learn more,” she shared.
In 2008, Olive officially started producing cheese under the Malagos Farmhouse brand. Sans advertising and social media promotions, Malagos Cheese has become one of the most popular Davao products in the country today.
“The demand of growing a business is great and to stay on top of my game I need to be ahead of the next guy so I have to be a cheesemaker and an entrepreneur. So yes, I probably have no life outside of the cheese room, but I am having so much fun,” Olive said.
For a busy entrepreneur, Olive takes note of the importance of blending comfort with style.
“I need to fix myself, too. I am most comfortable in jeans or drawstring linen pants, loose cotton or linen blouse, and in clogs, sneakers or traveling boots. I lead a very active lifestyle so my fashion has to work with and around it, and comfortable materials like linen can beat the summer heat. I choose my pieces well because I will wear them until their “retirement.” Then I go get myself another set.”
“I like the convenience of shopping at Marks & Spencer because it carries a complete line of clothing offering a wide array of tops and bottoms I can choose from. I am such a lazy shopper so I prefer a onestop shop. They also have the palette. Marks & Spencer has colors that best suit me. They have a lot of earth tones and I like warm colors. The linens are light and airy. It’s perfect for summer. It can work during the day and can get me through the casual evening affairs as well,” shared the caring mom, loving wife and passionate cheesemaker.