Cheese-maker shortage? Conestoga College to train future masters of the craft
Conestoga College plans to build a $5 million dollar dairy processing facility on campus
Conestoga College is hoping its new program will help curb a potential cheese maker shortage by training upcoming master cheese makers at the college's proposed dairy processing facility.
The facility will be home to Ontario's first college-level professional cheese making program.
Plans on where the five-million dollar facility will go are still in the works, Keith Muller, chair of hospitality and culinary arts at Conestoga, told CBC's Craig Norris on The Morning Edition.
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The program has already been approved by the Ministry of Education, and development of the program's courses are underway.
"We're looking at probably [an] eight to ten-thousand square foot facility that will have state of the art equipment in there and everything students will need to be able to learn how to make cheese," he said.
Industry "desperately" needs
Muller said research from the Ontario Dairy Council found that securing professional cheese makers was going to become a challenge in the coming years.
"There is no facility in the country that actually teaches a professional cheese making course of this length," Muller said.
Adam van Bergeijk, owner of Mountainoak Cheese in New Hamburg, said the industry "desperately" needs to obtain professional cheese makers.
"At this moment we have to train people ourselves to make cheese," he said.
"Sometimes it takes a little longer than you hope for. Sometimes it goes a little better, but that's the way it is right now."
Van Bergeijk believes lack of training and certification available to produce more cheese makers in the future may form challenges for the industry to remain competitive.
"It's important to create a good product and be able to compete in the market," he said.
With files from Robin Deangelis