Sue Arthur thought Over the Moon Dairy would be a great retirement project of sorts. What she ended up starting was not one but two amazing businesses with cheese at the center.
Sue has always loved cheese. Living in Waikato, she has been surrounded with the perfect dairying conditions for more than 20 years. On her travels around the world she saw that despite New Zealand having such a big dairy industry, our supermarket shelves were lined with just the basic edam and cheddar cheese – she wanted to fix that!
As she got started learning how to make her own cheese, she realized that there was no cheese school in Aotearoa where one could go to learn the practical and theoretical elements of making cheese at home. By early 2008, Sue had not only setup Over the Moon but also its affiliate the New Zealand Cheese School. A few months in, Over the Moon then made its first cheeses and won a gold and two silver medals at the Cuisine New Zealand Champion of Cheese Awards.
Over the years, Over the Moon has embraced its passion for innovation and created some really unique cheeses like the Black Truffle Brie, The Black Sheep and Galactic Gold. They are one of the few dairies in Australasia that makes cheese with four different types of milk.
On our episode we talk about:
- Evolution of the production and availability of specialty cheeses in New Zealand
- The magic of cheese making
- The journey of starting a cheese factory and a cheese school all at once
- Importance of mentor and contractors to move past the business humps
- How innovation is at the heart of Over the Moon
Listen to the Podcast Here:
Buy some cheese and learn more about Over The Moon.
