Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Cheeses please at national show
Two Bothwell products get first-place honours at Ontario competition
Cheese makers Rob Hiebert (left) and Gil Dueck show off Bothwell’s award-winning Monterey Jack and marble cheddar. (PHIL.HOSSACK@FREEPRESS.MB.CA )
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BOTHWELL Cheese, the little company from New Bothwell, is broadening its reputation for excellence, snagging first-place honours for two of its varieties at the recently held British Empire Cheese Show in Ontario.
The independent Manitoba premium cheese maker took the top trophy for the fourth year in a row for its marble cheddar and won for its Monterey Jack for the first time.
"We're really happy about this, because Monterey Jack is the base we use for all our specialty varieties," said Bothwell CEO Ivan Balenovic.
Since leading a group of investors, including Growthworks (formerly the Ensis Growth Fund), which bought the 66-year-old operation in 2002, Balenovic has more than doubled the company's sales to about $22 million.
It has about 55 employees in the hamlet 30 kilometres southeast of Winnipeg and another eight part-timers at its first free-standing retail store, at Richardson International Airport. The firm also has a store at its New Bothwell plant.
Its distinctively labelled cheeses are now ubiquitous in deli counters across Western Canada with the number of gourmet varieties -- including jalapeno Monterey Jack, red wine aged cheddar, Madagascar green peppercorn and black truffle -- growing by at least one new item a year.
As an independent Manitoba food company, it has achieved the almost unheard-of feat of capturing shelf space in Safeway, Sobeys and Costco stores across the west.
Dave Shambrock, executive director of the Manitoba Food Processors Association, said Bothwell Cheese is one of the association's star performers.
"There is a good complement of multinationals operating in Manitoba, and many excellent small food processors, but Bothwell does not have a lot of peers in its size," Shambrock said.
There are few independent cheese companies in Canada that are much larger than Bothwell. That is another significant accomplishment because prior to 2002, the Manitoba cheese company didn't have much of a retail presence, concentrating instead on the private label market.
Bothwell may soon pull away from the pack. Balenovic said the company is focusing on expanding into southern Ontario and Toronto and is negotiating with some large grocery chains there.
Sourcing its milk from local dairy farmers, Bothwell has strict quality standards, but also has excellent access to markets across the country.
"We are sticking to Canada at this point," Balenovic said. "We have less than one per cent of the market right now, so there really are a lot of opportunities."
Tomorrow:
Ivan Balenovic of Bothwell Cheese talks more about the company, its workplace culture and his management philosophy, with John McFerran in Saturday's Careers section.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 4, 2009 B4
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