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 Creative Communities is pleased to offer an article by guest blogger Petra Cooper, founder and owner of Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Co. in Prince Edward County.
On December 18th, 2009, the Financial Times of London published "Britain is Now the Big Cheese in Europe," an article celebrating the revival of cheese making in the UK. It told a surprising tale.
The article noted that the U.K. now has 11.4 types of cheese for every million people which puts it ahead of Switzerland (9.6/m) and yes, even France (9.2/m). Indeed, Britain now produces over 700 varieties of cheese (100 more than France) for a country with just 62 million people. In addition, the article noted that the average price for artisan cheeses in the UK are at least three times more than the commodity rate and that despite the recession, artisan cheese makers continue to thrive. There are now over 200 artisan producers in the UK.
Being just a bit competitive, I had to know. How would Ontario score? Or Canada for that matter. What if we were to assess ourselves on similar measures?
According to government statistics, Canada produces 450 types of cheese. With a population of 33.7M, that would give us a score of 13.35. Much higher than the U.K or the other countries listed. Oddly, Canada was not included in the analysis. But that would defeat the purpose of highlighting their achievement. The article has the UK as #1. If Canada was included, it would be #2. The United States was included mostly, I think, because it showed poorly. It achieved a score of 3.9.
Let’s come back to Canada. If we apply this measurement on by province basis, it would come as no surprise that Quebec achieves the highest innovation score. It currently produces 61.5% of all cheese (artisan, industrial – yes Virginia, Quebec makes and imports a lot of industrial cheese as well that is included in these figures) made in Canada. Furthermore, depending on which report you look at, Quebec produces between 350-500 different types of cheese. That would give Quebec a cheese innovation score of 44-64 given 7.8M in population! Off the Richter scale and a global leader by this measure I would say! So, congratulations to Quebec.
But what about Ontario?
 Ontario produces 28.4% of Canada’s cheese. However, we don’t produce as many types. At least, not yet. Currently, Ontario is estimated to produce about 150 types of cheese. But with a population of 13M, that gives Ontario an innovation score of 11.54 which, curiously, is about the same as the UK score. Perhaps our province’s largely British heritage limits our imagination when it comes to cheese as compared to Quebec?
Comparisons by numbers are rough indicators at best. But what it does tell us is that Quebec is really into cheese—not just from a cultural perspective (which I personally think is over-romanticized and mythologized) but from a GDP (Gross Domestic Product) perspective too. If you compare Quebec and Ontario, Quebec has almost three times the number of dairy farms per capita. Plus, cheese accounts for a much higher percent of Agriculture GDP in Quebec than Ontario. Therefore, it should be no surprise to see the Quebec provincial government works hard to support this sector and help it grow. If Quebec loses any ground in the cheese business, the effects on its economy would be material and not just political. As a consequence it is reasonable to anticipate that any threat to their market position and revenue base would result in protective actions.
Coming back to Ontario, Ontario’s agriculture & dairy scene is, or should I say was, a sleeping economic giant. In my view, it is finally waking up. The auto industry and financial services backbone of this province is a little sore these days, and agriculture (and dairying by extension) seems to be coming up the middle as a source of future growth and innovation.
Examples of this awakening abounds. Five years ago, Slow Food Toronto was just a small group. Today it draws over 1200 people to its annual picnic. Five years ago, no one could find information on cheese making in Ontario. Today, we have a provincial website summarizing the cheese industry in Ontario plus economic development websites like www.investincheese.ca which encourages investment in the cheese industry in Ontario. New cheese specialty retailers are popping up in urban and rural centres. The Ontario Cheese Society has grown in 6 years from 10 members to over 160 and now holds an annual conference with over 200 participants. There are several new dairies opening in coming years and at least 5 new ones have opened in past 5 years. Ontario is now the largest goat milk producer in Canada. Several Ontario artisan cheeses were listed in Juliet Harbutt’s new World Cheese Book. And, there is innovation in types of cheese made, new sustainable enterprise approaches to cheese making, and even business model innovation going on.
Looking good! Things are happening in Ontario.
While it is true we may not be able to beat Quebec given its head start in building a strong economic cluster around making cheese, I am certain Ontario can at least surpass most of Europe and our U.S. neighbours. Wayne Roberts, a well known food writer and member of the Toronto Public Health Food Policy Council noted in a recent article (“Eat This Recession”, Alternatives Journal, 15 Oct. 2009) that we could, with right policies, values, and entrepreneurial spirit, actually just “eat” our way out of this recession. And similarly, maybe we in Ontario can eat our way to the development of a strong, diverse and innovative dairy industry in the near future.
This article is reprinted from Petra's blog, Straight from the Vat. You can contact Petra at
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