The Rural Voice, 2006-07, Page 27That cashflow shortage has, at
times over the years, hurt the very
producers who supply the co-op, as
payments were delayed because of
lack of funds. It's made for difficult
times for the producers because dairy
is a high input business, he says.
Building' a business like
Mornington is a little like taking on a
house renovation. "It's just as well
you don't know what you're getting
into at the beginning," he says. "You
have to start out with a certain level
of enthusiasm. Reality seeps in after
a while. It takes a lot of time and
effort."
In the early years Reid spent two
to two and a half days a week
working for the co-op with no return.
"You get immersed in it," Reid says.
While Mornington started out
producing cheese, it has been the
slower growing of the two sides of
the business. The company makes
cheddar but the limiting factor here is
the price of cows' milk cheddar, he
says. Goats' milk cheddar is a
different product, but a limited
number of consumers are going to be
wiling to pay five times as much for
goats' milk cheddar as for cows'
milk.
There are also more competitors
in the business of making cheese
from goats' milk than there are in
bottling milk. That's a good thing to
bring different ideas and build the
market for goats' milk cheese
products, he says.
Still, "we're on the verge of
doing a lot more volume," he
says with the need to just find
one more major distributor of their
products.
With Teeswater-area resident
Gary Claassen as cheese -maker, the
future focus will likely be more on
soft cheeses which are a unique
goats' milk product and also move to
market more quickly, Reid says.
The challenge for a small -volume
operation is that the cost of meeting
the required regulations must be split
over fewer litres of processed
product, Reid says. For instance the
plant faces a four-day inspection in
which equipment has to be
completely taken apart and put back
together again. "Everyone is
concerned about food safety but the
cost of it is hard to pass on," Reid
says. "It has to be done but when
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