CannonBelles Cheese is a start-up artisan cheese company that will be handcrafting local cheeses in CannonFalls, MN. We hope to have our plant open and running by Summer of 2017. We will initially be making Curds, Queso Fresco, and Gouda; adding a new cheese at least once a year.
While we are building our plant, we are developing our recipes at the University of Minnesota Pilot plant. The cheeses we make there are for sale at local markets, farmers markets, and local events.http://cannonbelles.com
Back in the Fall of 2012, Deeann and Jackie decided to try to make cheese for the first time. They had been making beer and wine together for a few years, but just couldn’t keep up with what they were making. Jackie had also married a Dairy Farmer, so she had a fresh supply of great milk.
The first cheese we ever made was a quick mozarella. We thought it was great at first, but an hour later realized it was a flavorless cross between mozzarella and “the blob”. We decided to try again, but this time we used cultures to make a cheddar cheese from a recipe we got from a local beer making supply store which also sold some simple cheese making ingredients. This time, it looked, felt, smelled, and tasted like cheese! We thought we’d keep trying, and it just got better.
We liked our cheese so much that we thought we could start to sell it. Our friends and family seemed to really like it, so why wouldn’t everyone else. Jackie’s husband seemed to be annoyed by our constant questions about cows, milk, and the dairy business. So, we decided to ask our friend, Kathy if she’d like to join our venture. I don’t think we got the question out completely before she said yes. She grew up on a dairy farm, used to have her own herd, and has a degree and animal husbandry.
With the 3 of us ready to go, we really began researching what we needed in order to make this a successful business. We’ve visited numerous cheese plants in Minnesota and Wisconsin, asking quesitons of anyone we can. We joined the American Cheese Society. We took courses to learn as much as we could. We found contractors who are helping us develop business plans and grant proposals.
The Fall of 2015, Jackie got a message from the Cannon Falls, MN Director of Economic Development and Planning, Dave Maroney. He had heard we were looking for a home, and asked us to come meet with him. We did, and loved what we heard. Thus was born our relationship with our new hometown, Cannon Falls.
The story doesn’t end, it just continues. So many exciting things are happening for us. We hope you keep visiting our site to see what new things have occured and where you can find our cheese.
We can’t wait to share our locally made, family friendly, artisan cheeses with you!http://cannonbelles.com/our-story.html
Supporters
Can't imagine not helping out Deann...what excitement and fun!
Cheese!
Can't Wait to try you CANNON BELLE CHEESE!!!!