Whitestone doubles capacity to keep up

Whitestone Cheese chief executive Simon Berry says there is real growth in specialty cheese. Photo / Sally Rae.

It's a big year for Whitestone Cheese.

Not only is the Oamaru-based business undergoing a major redevelopment which will double its capacity, but it is also celebrating its 30th anniversary.

The company was founded in 1987 as a diversification during the rural downturn of the 1980s with the original factory in a converted garage.

Chief executive Simon Berry, the son of founders Bob and Sue Berry, recalled starting secondary school "pretty much the day we started making cheese".

"We have built things slowly and steadily. It hasn't been a rapid, risky venture," Mr Berry said.

Heading to university, he felt his calling was to return to the business, rather than go farming.

Joining the business in 2003, there were 10 staff; it had grown to 75 staff, with 50 based in Oamaru.

"It's grown into a bit of a beast," he acknowledged.

Now the focus was on managing that growth with a desire to not grow just for growth's sake. Bigger was not better and the focus was producing the highest quality product possible, he said.

The company was investing in state-of-the-art systems in its new plant to achieve that.

Part of that focus was offering cheese and wine and Whitestone Cheese recently acquired an on-licence for its factory store.

But Mr Berry was frustrated that legislative restrictions meant it could no longer ship wine with cheese orders to customers from its online store.

He described it as a "ridiculous" situation, saying e-commerce had not been recognised in what was an archaic system, meaning it was illegal to sell wine on its website.

The interior of the expansive new building at Whitestone Cheese. Photo / Sally Rae

Thankfully, it could now serve a glass of wine with cheese at the factory, but the losers were the customers wanting to make online purchases.

"We should be encouraging this side of it and pushing down the bulk side," he said.

The major redevelopment, which began in October last year, was on track with full commissioning expected at the end of August-early September, and an official opening in October.

The purchase of an adjacent property next to its site enabled the company to create 1100sq m of additional floor space, including packing rooms, a maturation space and storage, and it had been done with minimal disruption to day-to-day operations.

After running at capacity for the past three years, the additional space would be welcomed, Mr Berry said.

While it would double capacity, that would be over a long period of time, with incremental growth to achieve that.

There was a possibility that might mean more staff although some automation was also being brought in.

The prime focus was on the domestic market, although the company was also looking at Melbourne, across the Tasman. It was selling into Singapore and Fiji - including to Tom Cruise's superyacht Suri - and small amounts into Hong Kong and the United States.

With the new capacity, that was going to broaden its scope a bit but it would focus on key international markets, he said.

The company was also working on getting it into Europe, including into delicatessens in Paris.

An "exciting" new range of goat's milk cheese was due to be launched this spring. There was "real growth" in specialty cheese and consumer demand was growing, he said.

Bob and Sue Berry, now living at Lake Hayes, were still heavily involved in the business. The Berrys had looked to embed that family culture throughout the team and everyone had a say in the design and layout of the new facility, he said.