Moondarra Cheese opens American office, expands product offerings

The American dream is becoming a reality for Moondara Cheese, with the nation’s largest flavoured cheese manufacturer scoring points in the US market.

To use a well-worn phrase, you could say Australian sales for Moondarra Cheese have been “peaches and cream.”

But the largest flavoured cheese manufacturer nationally hasn’t restricted itself to stone fruit mixed with dairy.

Herb and capsicum; honey fig and macadamia; tropical fruit and almond; apple and cinnamon — the suburban Melbourne factory has mixed a range of flavours to savour.

And their creative concoctions have caught the attention of dairy adjudicators.

Earlier this year, Moondarra’s marinated cheese won the gold medal at the Royal Sydney Cheese and Dairy Show.

Moondarra Cheese co-owner Nick Katis said between 5000 and 6000 tonnes of cheese was produced by the Dandenong South factory per annum.

DAIRY: Moondarra Cheese Moondarra Cheese recently won the gold medal at the Royal Sydney Show for its marinated cheese. Pictured: Directors Matt Freeman and Nick Katis Picture: Zoe Phillips

“Our marinated cheese has been selling in IGA supermarkets for a while now. Following the success at Royal Sydney, we set to expand availability, with the marinated cheese set to be available in both Coles and Woolworths by August,” Mr Katis said.

“We’re known for our flavoured cream cheese — we’ve been doing that for 20-plus years but the marinated cheese is a new product we’ve really struck success with.”

On the back of the win, Moondarra are opening up an American office in Los Angeles. The cheese manufacturer already have a presence in the Chinese and Japanese markets.

“We had an office a few years back but Covid caused issues. We’re excited to be back into the US. California’s a huge market on its own. America is really receptive to Australian dairy.”