C H E E S E R E P O R T E R20 July 29, 2011

Gunn’s Hill Brings Swiss Mountain CheesesTo Ontario; Navigates Canada’s Supply

Management System To Become LicensedGunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese willlaunch production of three uniqueMountain-style washed-rind cheesevarieties this summer after threeyears of planning, testing and work-ing to comply with Canada’s regula-tions for new cheese makers.

Owned and operated by Ontarionative Shep Ysselstein, Gunn’s Hillpassed its final dairy plant inspectionjust this week and once the paper-work goes through, the company willbe in production.

The cheese factory is directly adja-cent to Ysselstein’s three-generationfamily farm in Woodstock, Ontario.

Growing up in the dairy industry,Ysselstein began thinking about acareer in cheesemaking at university.

While studying business at DordtCollege in Sioux Center, IA, Yssel-stein made a pilgrimage to ThunderOak Cheese Farm in Thunder Bay,Ontario.

“They showed us around and Ithought it was fantastic,” Ysselsteinsaid. “That’s what started mythought process.”

Post graduation, Ysselsteinreturned home in 2004 to his family’sdairy farm in Woodstock.

“People want variety.They don’t want to beeating the same cheesesevery time at parties.”

Shep Ysselstein,Gunn’s Hill Artisan Cheese

“I was getting tired of milkingcows all the time,” Ysselstein said.“At first, I was ready to go and builda cheese factory right away. Andthen I realized I knew nothing ofcheesemaking.”

That’s when I began my journeyon how to make cheese, he said.

That journey included takingcourses at the University of Guelph,the University of Vermont’s Institutefor Artisan Cheese (VIAC), and aninternship at Bronson Hill Cheeseryin New York state’s Finger Lakesregion.

Ysselstein also journeyed to theCanton of Bern in Switzerland dur-ing the summer of 2008 for fourmonths, where he helped milk

roughly 30 cows both morning andnight, and made traditional Moun-tain cheese in between.

“We made cheese the same waythey had been doing it for 500 years,with a big copper cheese kettle ontop of a fire – very little automation,”Ysselstein said.

“It was an amazing experience,because it’s hands-on; it’s all abouthow it feels and how it tastes,” hecontinued.

In spring 2009, Ysselstein feltready to start his own cheesemakingventure. It took from then untilDecember 2010 to acquire permits,handle paperwork and design thefacility.

“It was basically a period of plan-ning,” he said.

In Canada, we have a quota sys-tem for milk, Ysselstein explainedEach farmer has a quota on howmuch milk they’re allowed to pro-duce and likewise, each cheese planthas a quota on how much milkthey’re allowed to buy to makecheese.

“This is more or less to maintain areasonable price for the farmers andto keep it somewhat consistent,”Ysselstein said.

Because of Canada’s supply man-agement system, Gunn’s Hill has setcheeses the company is allowed tomanufacture.

Ysselstein applied to make threeartisan cheeses, and a committeeruled them to be “unique to Canada”and similar to the styles Ysselsteinlearned to make abroad.

“This is just for cow’s milk; goat’smilk or sheep’s milk – that’s wideopen,” Ysselstein said.

“If the committee said ‘no,’ youcould go back and change thedescription of the cheese and hope-fully, they would say ‘yes’ the nexttime,” he said.

There’s also a fallback with DairyFarmers of Ontario, which has anartisan cheese program in placecalled the Innovative Product Pro-gram, which allows a specific amountof milk for artisan cheese.

“There’s drawbacks for people get-ting started, but at the same time, itbenefits farmers in terms of getting aconsistent price to make a living,”Ysselstein said.

In the end, it supports small farmsbecause in Ontario, farm sizes aresmaller than elsewhere, he said.

Gunn’s Hill Hard Cheese is mod-eled after Swiss Mountain cheesewith a washed rind and rich, saltytaste. The Firm Cheese is a combi-nation of Appenzeller and Gouda,with a creamy, nutty taste andaroma. The Semi-Soft Cheese ismodeled after a little-known Swisscheese called Mutchli, with a sweettaste and flexible texture.

Gunn’s Hill’s 6,000 square-footcheese factory includes a retail out-let, and the plant is designed for vis-itors to view the production area.Ysselstein purchased a used 300-gal-lon cheese vat out of Wisconsin, anda number of new pieces of equip-ment like his cheese press directlyfrom Holland.

Ultimately, Ysselstein said hewould like to process about 158,000gallons of milk per year – about onebatch of cheese daily.

Cheese will be sold on-site anddirect to consumers through farmers’markets in a 100-mile radius, includ-ing Toronto, and through a distribu-tor to restaurants and retailers innearby larger cities.

Currently, Ysselstein is handlingoperations pretty much on his own,with occasional help from his family.

“I plan to start out on my own andwhen I run out of hours in the day,I’ll look at hiring,” he said. “And ifI’m stuck right away, I can always goto the farm and steal my brother fora few hours.”

If I get to full capacity someday –similar to the factory where I workedin British Columbia – I’ll employabout 10 people, he said.

For those looking to start theirown farmstead cheese operation,Ysselstein said it’s most helpful toknow someone who’s already gonethrough it and willing to share tipsand ideas.

“I lost a lot of time because I did-n’t know all the regulatory hurdles,and I should have set things up in adifferent order,” Ysselstein said. “I

know now how long one thing takesversus another thing.”

He also suggested visiting similarcheese plants and talking with ownersabout their design process – specifi-cally, features they like and plans thatdidn’t turn out as expected.

“Find good people to listen to,”he said. “Lots of people will tell youjust about anything to sell theirproduct, but there are companiesand salesmen out there that willoffer good advice, based on what’sbest for you.”

I had a food safety design consult-ant come in and help, too, Ysselsteinsaid. In the end, that made a big dif-ference.

In Ontario, there’s not nearlyenough specialty cheese manufactur-ers, according to Ysselstein. Thedemand well outstrips the supply.

“We’re quite far behind New Yorkor Vermont or Quebec or Pennsyl-vania in terms of artisan cheese,” hesaid. “People want variety. Theydon’t want to be eating the samecheeses every time at parties.”

For more information on Gunn’sHill Artisan Cheese, contactShep Ysselstein via email:shep@gunnshillcheese.ca. rr