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Farm House Natural Cheeses Receives Agriculture Innovation Grant

Farm House also recently received top honours for two cheeses at the 2015 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix
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Farm House Natural Cheeses received a federal grant to develop new packaging

Farm House Natural Cheeses has received a grant of $10,000 in joint funding from the Governments of Canada and British Columbia, through the Canada-B.C. Agri-Innovation Program.

Farm House Natural Cheeses produces handmade cow and goat cheeses on a family farm in Agassiz, British Columbia. This grant will go towards finalizing and implementing the packaging design for a new cheese product.

"We received funding for custom designed and professionally manufactured packaging via an Agriculture Innovation Grant which enabled us to launch a new fresh cheese product into the marketplace,” said owner and operator of Farm House Natural Cheeses Debra Amrein-Boyes. “The product is a very approachable, popular fresh cheese, which is extremely attractive in its new packaging. This made it possible for us to market the cheese to a wider clientele, which then helps to build awareness of locally produced and available foods, helps sustain small agriculture in the province, and contributes to the local economy."

“Small businesses like Farm House Natural Cheeses are important to the B.C. economy,” said Chilliwack-Hope MLA Laurie Throness. “Funding like this will help promote further innovation in agriculture and help our region grow.”

Farm House Natural Cheeses is one of 16 companies to receive funding in this round of grants. The funding comes from the Governments of Canada and British Columbia’s commitment, under the Growing Forward 2 agreement, to provide up to $13.4 million through 2018 to projects that have the potential to lead to the commercialization and/or adoption of innovative agricultural products and practices. So far, 80 projects have shared more than $7 million in funding.

The Growing Forward 2 is a 5-year federal-territorial-provincial agreement, launched in 2013, that is providing a $3 billion investment in agricultural innovation, competitiveness and market development.

The Canada-B.C. Agri-Innovation Program is administered by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of B.C.

Farm House Natural Cheeses had other exciting news recently. They received accolades from the 2015 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix in Toronto, winning first place for both their Heidi and Traditional Clothbound Cheddar. Heidi won for the Firm Cheese category. Using only rich summer milk when the cows graze in the pastures, this firm washed rind cheese has a beautiful dark golden paste. Aged for a minimum of eight months, Heidi reaches its peak at one year. The flavour is deep and rich with grassy notes. The Traditional Clothbound Cheddar won in the Old Cheddar category. Using the original clothbound method, Farm House Natural Cheese is one of the few cheese makers in Canada making this style of cheddar. Curds are placed in a cloth-lined mold. After pressing, the cloth is rubbed in lard to protect the cheese, resulting in deep, complex flavours, earthy around the cloth area with a good balance of sharpness and floral notes.

- with files from the 2015 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix