We ventured into cheeses because… we both love food and wanted to create a business that was centred on food; a business that would allow us to express our creativity through food and in turn help us to contribute to our country in a way that adds to Jamaica’s expanding food culture. Of course, there is the added factor of not being able to find great quality cheeses readily available in the country, so we decided to make our own.

Our major challenge is… I suppose we could talk about securing capital in order to expand or finding retailers who will stock our cheeses so that our customers in other parishes have easier access to them. But instead, we truly focus on solutions and actions and we know that all those things that we may struggle with right now are fixable. We really only see solutions and for that reason it is hard to name a major challenge.

This issue remains, and managing the raw material inventory is… our main raw material is cow’s milk which we start turning into cheese as soon as we get it from the farm. A portion may sometimes go into cold storage but the process of storing and managing this inventory item is quite straightforward. Other raw material inventory is stored at room temperature or cool storage if necessary. The entire process pertaining to managing inventory is simple for us.

The products became available to the public in… March last year at a small, local event called Made In Manchester.

And are currently available… directly from us by ordering via email or calling, but we also attend numerous events such as Conu’co Market at the Cove in Priory, St Ann, where we offer samples to customers, sell cheese by weight, make grilled cheese sandwiches and pizzas, using our cheeses of course, and even debut new or experimental cheeses to our always open and excited customers.

The response to the product has been… great! Many customers are grateful to now have access to real artisan aged cheeses in Jamaica, something we usually import to get a hold of. We have been able to work with hotels, restaurants and chefs who use our cheeses to create their own ‘art’ and we are grateful for all their support.

Our core customers are… really tourists and locals with an appreciation for high-quality cheeses.

We plan to grow the business to become… the region’s best high-quality artisan cheese producers, as well as producers of other high-quality local products. From there, we will take our business international with our cheeses being known as some of the best in the world.

Our first breakthrough came when… we launched at the Made in Manchester Expo. We were making cheese we saw as market-ready since our first training abroad and thought it would be a great first event to bring our cheeses to.

Jamaicans should support our product because… our cheeses are Jamaica’s first artisan aged cheeses and they are all made with local, Jamaican ingredients, something we are very passionate about. We are also passionate about doing our part to rebuild the local dairy industry and that is why working closely with dairy farmers is so important to us. Jamaicans should support our cheeses because we are creating products that are undeniably Jamaican and products that will help to strengthen the culinary and food culture in Jamaica.

Our products are successful because… they are creating value. Whether it be exceptional customer service, using organic and all-natural ingredients whenever we can, being interactive and transparent with our customers, sustainable product packaging, etc, we make those all priorities and continuously work on getting better as we grow. Our vision is what drives us; we know where we want to take our products and we know exactly how we want it to look and how we want customers to experience cheese, so with that vision in mind, we are able to succeed.

If we knew then what we know now… we probably would have started making cheese sooner! It is the perfect way to let our creativity run wild, and the journey this business has taken us on so far has been so rewarding as we learn life and business lessons which continue to strengthen us as a team.