Getting Started

For more than a century, Eastern Ontario has been known for its cheese. It’s part of our heritage and our future together. Wherever your passion lives we are at the ready. Come join us. And live your dream in Ontario’s Artisan Cheese Region. Here are some resources to get you started in your planning process.

Supplying Milk

If your interest is primarily in supplying milk to cheese makers, explore what’s involved in goats, sheep, dairy cattle and even water buffalo!

British Sheep Dairying Association
Ontario Goat Cooperative
Ontario Dairy Sheep Association
Ontario Goat Milk Producers’ Association
Ontario Water Buffalo Company
Dairy Farmers of Canada

Learning More about Artisan Cheese

Artisan Cheese Marketing Education Guild (Ontario)
Ontario Cheese Society

These websites are also excellent resources:
American Cheese Society
Australian Specialist Cheesemakers’ Association
Dairy Business Innovation Center
Irish Farmhouse Cheesemakers Association
Pacific Northwest Cheese Project
Specialist Cheesemakers Society (UK)
Vermont Cheese Council
Vermont Institute for Artisanal Cheese

Cheese-oriented Education and Training Programs and Services

New York State Artisan and Farmstead Cheese Guild
University of Guelph
Ontario Ministry of Agriculture Food and Rural Affairs
Starting a New Business in Ontario

Note that Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company offers day-long cheese making events – a great way to immerse yourself in cheese making… and take home the fruits of your labour! Check with Fifth Town for upcoming events.

Regulatory Affairs

Articles on cheese safety
Canadian Food Inspection Agency
Dairy Food Safety
Inspections (Cheese Making Plant and Product)
Microbial Testing, Getting Started With

Cheese making Equipment & Supplies

Glengarry Cheese making and Dairy Supply
Fromagex – Cheese making equipment, supplies and solutions

Financing and Funding

Please contact the Economic Development Organization(s) in your area (see below).

Economic Development Organizations

County of Frontenac
Frontenac Community Futures Development Corporation

There is additional information in the Additional Links section of this website. If you still don’t find what you’re looking for, please get in touch with us directly.