MCE decided to develop a mobile dairy unit after over 10 years of meeting and sharing the experiences of farmers and the public who had made the decision to explore the feasibility of making their own cheese, as either a way of diversification or starting up a completely new business venture.
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For them, there always seemed to be one common emotion. Frustration! Nearly all of the people we had spoken to had the same concerns;
- Do I need planning consent?
- What about Health & Safety?
- How long before I can start making cheese?
- What if it is not for me or I need smaller or larger equipment?
- Do I have to Project Manage it myself?
- How much do you think the whole thing will cost?
- How can I make my cheese different?
- Is there grant funding available, if so how do I get it?
Apart from helping them with the actual process equipment, we were unable to
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help them with all their concerns other than offer advice. It seemed that they really needed a whole package presented to them developed for their individual needs.
The extra costs to facilitate this would of prevented it from being financially feasible.
Taking this into consideration and much more, we decided that a way to assist with this would be to control as much as possible within what we supply.
From there The Little Cheesery was born. We had in the past helped produce a larger scale version with 20ft and 40 ft static containers, these are an excellent way of providing a ready built factory, however we believed a more compact unit would create opportunities for a wider audience, certainly where space is prohibitive.
Sponsors of The Best Fresh Cheese Award at The Great British Cheese Festival 2011