NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business / Small Business

Small Business: Creating the institute Aotearoa needed - The New Zealand Cheese School

Aimee Shaw
By Aimee Shaw
Business Reporter·NZ Herald·
8 Apr, 2018 05:00 PM5 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Sue Arthur and Neil Willman, founders of the New Zealand Cheese Factory. Photo / Supplied

Sue Arthur and Neil Willman, founders of the New Zealand Cheese Factory. Photo / Supplied

New Zealand's only cheese school, located at Putaruru in south Waikato, has been running for 10 years and in that time has trained some of the best. Founder Sue Arthur talks about training competition and groups from overseas.

What does the business do?

The New Zealand Cheese School was originally set up to train professionals and people who would like to be cheese makers. I set up at the end of 2007, the same time as my artisan cheese business Over The Moon, and I did that because I couldn't find any training here in New Zealand.

We do the practical and theory courses at Over The Moon's factory, with students helping to make our commercial production for the week, under supervision. The cheese courses are block courses; they're short, intensive courses for a week and people can either come in and do a practical course or a theory course.

We've had several thousand students come through until now including professionals and those who want to make cheese at home for themselves.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

What was your motivation for starting the business?

I had been to Australia and met Neil Willman who was a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne's training site, south of Melbourne, and thought it was ridiculous that New Zealand had no cheese training facilities given that we have the best milk in the world, and so much of it, too.

At the time, the only training you could get was if you were a Fonterra staff member down at Palmerston North. I was completely frustrated and I thought it would be nice to set something up while I was setting up my cheese factory.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We've trained students from all over the world. Initially, the objective was just to lift the level of skill in the New Zealand industry and to widen the range of cheeses that we make here in New Zealand.

Ten years ago you could have gone into any supermarket and found a very narrow range of products, and I wanted to increase the variety for the New Zealand consumer. But because of Neil's relationship with some of our suppliers, we've trained people from Peru and he's involved in a project in lifting the standards of cheese-making in the Andes, with the New Zealand and Peruvian governments. A couple of years before that we were involved with an aid project in Myanmar, where we had a group in and trained those people here as well.

How important is it for the school to be involved in aid work?

It's not a requirement to make the business function well but Neil and I are towards the end of our working lives and its just amazing to be able to give something back to the industry and not just to New Zealand, but around the world, and to use our skills and experience to be able to do that. It's a very rewarding job to be able to do and changing people's lives is just amazing.

Discover more

Small Business

Taking a scientific approach to fashion

18 Mar 05:00 PM
Small Business

Small Business: Coffee and whiskey skincare

04 Mar 05:00 PM
Small Business

Harvesting South Island vegetables to order

11 Mar 05:00 PM
Small Business

Solving a problem for kiwifruit growers

15 Apr 06:00 PM

What trends have you seen in the industry?

There's a real interest in the cottage industry. There's a lot more people who now want to know what's in their food, but in terms of our professional courses, there seems to be a real interest, in New Zealand and around the world, in starting up small, artisan, hand-crafted businesses, being able to supply something local.

What are your long-term plans?

Our objective is to try and convert some of our courses into distance learning because that seems to suit people who want to fit things around their busy lives, and it's not always that easy to get to the central North Island where we're based.

The New Zealand cheese market is so small, but it is growing. It's hard to get any statistics here in New Zealand but if you look at the Australian market, there has been a growth in the consumption of specialty cheese and a corresponding drop in the consumption of cheeses such as cheddar. There's a big gap in the fresh cheeses market in New Zealand, we're just not used to eating or dealing with fresh cheeses like mozzarella and ricotta like the Europeans are.

Which cheese companies have you trained and what's your personal stance of training the competition?

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

We've trained Grinning Gheko Cheese, Kaikoura Cheese, Cilantro Artisan Cheese, Barrys Bay Cheese, Whangaripo Buffalo Cheese, to name a few.

Our stance on training competition is inspired because it's only going to increase the amount of lovely cheese that is available in New Zealand, and the market is so small that there's room for lots of small players. A lot of these companies are local, they just supply the local farmer's market and a few restaurants so there's lots of room for variety in New Zealand. I think it's encouraging and we're always so proud to see our former students go on to win cheese awards and trophies, it's like your kids have succeeded in something that's quite challenging.

What advice do you give to others thinking of starting their own business?

Do a business plan and forecast before making a decision to start. Studies show that if you have a full business plan your chances at succeeding are so much higher.

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Small Business

Premium
Small Business

On The Up: From fishing shows to first aid - Parachute First Aid's unique journey

06 Jul 05:00 PM
Premium
Business|small business

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Small Business

Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

29 Jun 05:00 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Small Business

Premium
On The Up: From fishing shows to first aid - Parachute First Aid's unique journey

On The Up: From fishing shows to first aid - Parachute First Aid's unique journey

06 Jul 05:00 PM

Kate Mounter on her first aid kit business Parachute First Aid.

Premium
'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

'Change their footprint': Kiwi start-up's plan to shave $1200 a year off household power bills

30 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

Small Business: Kiwi pickle brand processes 100 tonnes as business booms

29 Jun 05:00 PM
Premium
On The Up: A royal new venture with King Bees Honey

On The Up: A royal new venture with King Bees Honey

22 Jun 05:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP