Gianaclis Caldwell - The Farmstead Creamery Advisor: The Complete Guide to Building and Running a Small, Farm-Based Cheese Business

Praise for
THE FARMSTEAD CREAMERY ADVISOR

Where theres a will, theres a whey. For both the dreamer and those whove already set their sights on the beauty of being a cheesemaker, here is all the information to get started in business and survive. Caldwells first-hand knowledge takes the reader from their fledgling idea to selling their finished product, and is presented in an easy-to-understand format. Watch outyou may start a venture that just might succeed! This is a brilliant how-to guide, and just what we stewards and entrepreneurs need during a time when our farmland must be saved.

RICKI CARROLL, owner of cheesemaking.com

This delightful book is a road map to success for aspiring farmstead cheesemakers. It will help them plan, implement, and develop their new businesses. Passionate stories of experience are revealed, giving great insight into becoming a sustainable, conscientious, and entrepreneurial cheesemakerincluding common pitfalls and how best to avoid them. Its about time someone writes such a comprehensive guide! I will recommend this book to every aspiring cheesemaker I know. We would have saved numerous hours and dollars with such an invaluable resource.

DAVID GREMMELS, President of The American Cheese Society;
co-owner of Rogue Creamery

The Farmstead Creamery Advisor is thorough, eloquent, and generousa must-have book for anyone considering establishing a creamery. Each point is covered in detail: from the fundamental reasons for going into the business to begin with, to the design of the make room, all the way to the often-neglected exit strategy. This is a good business book for any-sized dairy.

MAX McCALMAN, author of Mastering Cheese:
Lessons for Connoisseurship from a Maitre Fromager

The Farmstead Creamery Advisor is an authoritative, yet friendly and approachable, guide to the process of establishing a farmstead creamery. Simply a must-have for anyone who wants to realize their dream of making and selling cheese.

TAMI PARR, author of Artisan Cheese of the Pacific Northwest

Heres a nuts-and-bolts, no-nonsense, and essential guide for anyone curious about starting a farmstead dairy. Who better to explain the intricacies and pitfalls of the cheesemaking business than a true practitionera woman with a lifetime of experience caring for cows and goats.

BRAD KESSLER, author of Goat Song: A Seasonal Life,
A Short History of Herding, and the Art of Making Cheese

There have been many books written, and classes given, on the subject of cheesemaking, but primarily from the process-oriented view. Little has been written about how to get started, or the answer to, What are we up against here? The Farmstead Creamery Advisor fills in those blanks. One of the best pieces of advice in this book is for cheesemakers to build a base foundation beginning with proper business management. No matter how good the cheese, or how much you love your animals, everything depends upon a good business plan to eventually turn a profit. Especially useful, in addition, is Caldwells chapter on developing an aging space in light of increasing energy costs. This has been a not-so-well-thought-out part of many cheesemaking projects, and could be some of the most important information in this book. To be sure, Gianaclis Caldwell asks the big questions that need to be considered before beginning to develop such a project; its a true reality check every aspiring cheesemaker needs. In fact, this book should be in all their libraries.

JIM WALLACE, cheesemaking.com

THE
FARMSTEAD
CREAMERY
ADVISOR

THE
FARMSTEAD
CREAMERY
ADVISOR

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO BUILDING
AND RUNNING A SMALL, FARM-BASED
CHEESE BUSINESS

GIANACLIS CALDWELL

CHELSEA GREEN PUBLISHING
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, VERMONT

Copyright 2010 by Gianaclis Caldwell.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be transmitted or reproduced in any form by
any means without permission in writing
from the publisher.

Project Manager: Emily Foote
Developmental Editor: Benjamin Watson
Copy Editor: Lucy Gardner Carson
Proofreader: Nancy Ringer
Designer: Peter Holm, Sterling Hill Productions

All photographs by Gianaclis Caldwell unless otherwise credited.

Printed in the United States of America
First printing May, 2010

Our Commitment to Green Publishing
Chelsea Green sees publishing as a tool for cultural change and ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book manufacturing practices with our editorial mission and to reduce the impact of our business enterprise in the environment. We print our books and catalogs on chlorine-free recycled paper, using vegetable-based inks whenever possible. This book may cost slightly more because we use recycled paper, and we hope youll agree that its worth it. Chelsea Green is a member of the Green Press Initiative (www.greenpressinitiative.org), a nonprofit coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Caldwell, Gianaclis, 1961
The farmstead creamery advisor : the complete guide to building and
running a small, farm-based cheese business / Gianaclis Caldwell.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
eBook ISBN: 978-1-60358-283-4
1. Cheesemaking. 2. Cheese industry. I. Title.

SF271.C35 2010
637'.3068--dc22

2010010716

Chelsea Green Publishing Company
Post Office Box 428
White River Junction, VT 05001
(802) 295-6300
www.chelseagreen.com

CONTENTS

Accessory Rooms

Keeping the Romance Alive: Tips for Re-Energizing

T he renaissance of artisan cheese and other foods continues to develop and spread throughout the United States. Today, growing numbers of craft producers offer us a veritable cornucopia of delicious and sophisticated food products, coupled with their strong commitment to the best environmental practices and fair compensation for farmers and workers. If you enjoy wonderful handmade cheese; world-class beer, wine, hard cider, or spirits; superior-tasting bacon, ham, and sausage; pasture-raised fresh meats and poultry; and organic and sustainably grown fruit and vegetables, then twenty-first-century America is one of the best places in the world to savor these and many more outstanding foods.

During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, we Americans celebrated our farmers for their amazing skillstractor and equipment repair, animal husbandry, veterinary medicine, local weather wisdom, and good business senseas well as for their perseverance, solid democratic values, and plain old-fashioned work ethic. In the years after World War II, however, we transformed agriculture and food production from this human scale to an industrial one in which the farmers need for diverse skills was supplanted by technology and corporate values.

The damage of this paradigm shift was serious, and it is still being felt today; yet, thankfully, all was not lost. Beginning in the 1970s, American winemakerssome old-timers and a lot of young Turkstook the world by storm and established regions like Californias Napa and Sonoma valleys as serious places for winemaking. Following the wine community, craft and home brewers stepped forward and expanded beer culture, with the number of U.S. breweries increasing from a mere forty-four companies in 1980 to 1,302 by 1997. In the beverage sector alone, this proliferation has afforded American consumers choices far beyond anyones capacity to enjoy them all!