Breaking the mould in Victoria

A renowned third generation French cheesemaker is partnering with a group of entrepreneurial Aussie farmers in Victoria to create a new range of cheese rarely seen in Australia.

Matthieu Megard from L'Artisan Cheese Timboon, who was behind the re-opening of the iconic Timboon Cheese Factory in West Victoria, says by partnering with the Organic Dairy Farmers Australia Co-operative - which is owned entirely by organic farmers across Victoria - he'll be able to provide a quality organic cheese unlike anything on the market.

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The ODFA co-op, which was started by a small group of farmers who bucked traditional methods to go organic a decade ago, now has some 22 members, who all firmly believe in the long term sustainability of their farms, the well-being of their cows and how that translates to remarkable, certified organic milk.

It's that pure, untouched milk which has Matthieu excited.

The Frenchman, whose family has been in the cheese industry for a century, moved to Australia five years ago with a desire to create quality local cheeses. After re-opening the Timboon factory two years ago he achieved that and Lï¿½Artisan Cheesewas born.

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Its products now range from fresh curd cheese to semi hard cheese and are available across the country in gourmet delis; and used by some of the country's best restaurants including Vue de Monde, France Soir and Jacques Reymond.

Matthieu says he wants to go a step further and create a hand-crafted gourmet semi-hard mountain style French cheese - something he couldn't achieve without untouched organic milk.

So what's the long term plans for this artisan French cheese-maker. Matthieu says his ultimate dream is to create Australian raw milk hard cooked cheese, which is far superior in taste and allows the true flavours of the milk to come to the fore. But for now he says the focus is on creating something reflecting the taste of his home-town using unsurpassed milk products - "it's what we call in France 'Vraiment remarquable' - 'something truly remarkable.'

The new cheese range will be available from early 2013.

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