LESSON 14: THE PRICE OF QUALITY CHEESE

Specialty cheese is expensive. This lesson breaks down some of the high input costs associated with making cheese and getting it to the marketplace.

The Costs Associated with Producing Cheese Milk

Purchase of the animals and costs of selective breeding
Cost of land the animals graze upon
Cost of housing animals
Cost of supplemental feed, which has a higher cost because it is designed to enhance protein and fat levels in milk destined for cheese
Milking equipment – its purchase and maintenance
Living wage for animal husbandry staff
Equipment for heating, cooling, storing and hauling milk

The Costs Associated with Turning Milk into Cheese

Cost of ingredients - Milk destined for cheese is already several times more expensive than fluid milk destined for the commodity market
The ratio of milk to cheese is roughly 10:1
Living wages for the cheesemakers
Cheesemaking equipment that is highly specialized, often made and shipped from overseas
Milk testing to ensure milk safety
Energy costs in the dairy
Cost of dairy structure itself and the land it’s built upon

The Costs Associated with Aging Cheese

Climate control costs
Cost of space for aging cheese
Cost of holding structures (shelving, boards, rooms with different environments, etc.)
Living wage for people turning and caring for aging cheese – or cost of machines that turn the cheese
Cost of evaporation – cheeses can lose as much as 15 percent of their weight in aging

The Costs of Getting Cheese into the Marketplace