DELIVERY of the containers that will become the cheese-making facility for Wellstein Cheese Co. is a welcome box ticked for entrepreneurs Jess Holstein and Tim Wellham in the slow-going process of accomplishing their dream of making cheese in Dorrigo.

“We have had several delays due to Covid and floods, getting a DA and unexpected issues on site,” Jess told News Of The Area.

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“It is, however, quite nice to have some progress: the shipping container facility and our pasteuriser have arrived and construction is well underway.

“We are staying cautiously optimistic and are expecting to start production at the end of the year.

“The dream remains the same: to make cheese in one of the most beautiful places on earth with the best local milk,” she said.

Five years ago the pair mused on making their own cheese and three years later they started to put that thought into reality.

“The move to Dorrigo two years ago was a great one, it is the perfect location to make cheese and a beautiful place to live,” said Jess.

“The community, with a big history of dairy production, has been very supportive of our plans to make cheese locally.

“We have a fantastic source of milk in Fernbrook, our dairy farmer does a great job and can’t wait for our cheese.”

You might recognise the couple from their appearances at local markets cooking and selling yummy French Raclette cheese melted over hot Dorrigo potatoes where they’ve shared their dream with encouragement from locals.

They started doing markets to put themselves “out there” and talk to people about their plans for locally-made artisan cheese.

Last year they had a successful crowdfunding campaign raising $45,000 which enabled them to purchase a pasteuriser.

Keen to get started and shown overwhelming support by the community and cheese lovers Australia-wide it was time to get their cheese rolling.

“A new business is never easy but who could have known how hard business would be hit,” said Jess.

“A global pandemic, inflation, floods, storms and power outs – it hasn’t been an easy year for anyone.”

Inflation has hit them hard, the cost of equipment and construction have almost doubled.

“Waiting for the DA for our production facility felt like a lifetime,” she said.

Then they ran into unexpected issues with the power supply.

The options were to spend $50,000 upgrading the transformer and a new power pole, find a new site or to go off grid generating all their own power.

“Our aim was always to be carbon neutral using green power, offsetting everything else and to get solar power down the track.

“So we picked the third option – going off grid and installing a solar and battery system is a big job and doing so before operating makes it even trickier and causes more delays,” said Jess.

The markets slowed down with Covid, terrible weather and road closures on Waterfall Way with numerous landslides, forcing Jess and Tim to change course and focus on reliable work to cover the increased start-up costs.

“We miss being at the markets and talking to people about cheese but look forward to returning with our own cheese in the future.

“Nothing teaches you patience like making cheese,” she said.

“There are no shortcuts to quality cheese and it’s a lot of work but at the end of the day that’s also what makes it so rewarding.

“In cheese we trust,” Jess said.

By Andrea FERRARI