COVID-19 crisis sparks an idea for Woodside Cheese Wrights to milk every opportunity
Adelaide Hills cheesemakers have come up with a thrifty stroke of genius – creating a new cheese with milk and cider that would otherwise have gone down the drain, while launching a subscription-based cheese club.
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It’s no use crying over spilt milk, as the saying goes.
And confronted with an excess of milk due to the COVID-19 epidemic, Woodside Cheese Wrights owner Kris Lloyd decided to buckle down and make the best of a bad situation.
The result has been a new subscription-based cheese club to sell direct to consumers, and a new cheese, aptly named Spilt Milk, in collaboration with Adelaide brewing company Sparkke.
Ms Lloyd, who was recently named a member in the General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to the artisan cheese making industry, to education and to tourism, had just narrowly averted disaster in the bushfires earlier this year, and was on the road to recovery when COVID struck.
“I guess it was a bit of a play on words, but I honestly said to the cheesemakers, we’ve got the choice – we can either tell our milk suppliers to go away and the consequences of that and the ripple effect of that would have been quite devastating,’’ Ms Lloyd said.
“So I literally said to them, okay, guys, there’s no point in crying over spilt milk, let’s just get on with it, go and make a new cheese. And it was, basically, as simple as that.’’
The cheese is a collaboration with Whitmore Square-based Sparkke, which had an excess of vintage cider due to the fact they had to shut their venue.
“So, basically, that cider was going to go down the drain and our milk – we had no purpose to continue making the fresh cheeses that that milk was assigned for, because the cafes were shut.
“So, I guess, in many respects, we repurposed two different items and brought them together to create something that I think has put a lot of smiles on people’s faces and tastes bloody good.’’
Ms Lloyd has also recently revived a cheese she hasn’t made in 15 years, called Fibonacci, inspired by a cheese she saw people eating on the streets of Italy.
The company has also launched the Clever Little Cheese Club, with Ms Lloyd and son Mitch, the senior cheese maker, selecting five to six cheeses, plus crackers, to be sent out to subscribers.
The club also will collaborate with other food and beverage producers, swapping in a cheese for some of their produce.
Ms Lloyd said last week that after a very difficult start to the year for all businesses, the mood seemed more optimistic.
“I certainly feel that there’s a little bit of a buzz, not just in the regions but also I think in the city ... I just think people are starting to relax a little bit more but I don’t think we are relaxing ridiculously,” she said.
“I think people are very mindful and being very cautious and I think that is a really good thing. “I’m really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve here.”