Cheese is big business for Italy. This year a record 450 million kilograms of cheese was exported from the European nation, up 8% since 2017. Italian born, Vito Minoia is the Head Cheesemaker of Vannella Cheese, and has been in the industry for almost 50 years. After visiting Australia to train a local Cheesemaker, Vito saw an opportunity to bring traditional Italian flavours to our shores.
“I saw a good place, safe place to grow my family. We decided to sell the business in Italy and come to Australia,” explains Vito.
The family originally set up in far north Queensland to be close to the buffalo herds.
“We had some tough years when we were in Cairns,” explains Vito’s son, Giuseppe.
“We found it really hard to pretty much sell cheese."
"So we learnt a lot of lessons there, maybe the biggest one would be to stay close to where the business is.”
Since moving to their purpose-built factory in Sydney in 2014, Vannella Cheese has experienced a six-fold rise in weekly production. They now supply fine dining restaurants and specialty retailers around Australia, and have built up a loyal following for their award-winning burrata.
The South of Italy is known for its stretched curd cheese varieties. Source: SBS
“Burrata is a combination of two types of cheese, a thin layer of bocconcini on the outside, filled with stracciatella- a mixture of bocconcini and cream,” explains Giuseppe.
“We still make our cheese with old traditions.
Vannella Cheese was recently named a finalist in the 2018 Ethnic Business Awards. Source: SBS
"These days even in Italy the burrata is made with the use of machines that just fill up the cheese, cut it and let it go, but we still hand tye a knot on the top of the cheese, like it traditionally was.”
Keeping business in the family is a strong Italian tradition, and Vito is now passing his knowledge down to the third generation.
“My nephew just started, so we’re training him in packing at the moment,” says Giuseppe.
Three generations of Vannella Cheese: Rosario, Giuseppe and Vito Source: SBS
“Our family oversees every bit of cheese that’s made, from when it’s milk to when it goes into a bucket or a bag, it’s completely looked after by us.”
With the factory nearing capacity, the cheese-making family now have their eyes on future growth opportunities and a bigger slice of the wholesale market.
“A lot of people say oh you have to do something different," says Giuseppe.
"We don’t do anything different, but we do it properly.
"We do it in a way that was traditional to our region, we do it in a way that makes us happy and obviously we hope the people that eat our cheese are happy as well.”
