Meyer Cheese Revisit

Having learnt the craft of making Dutch-style gouda cheese from monks, Ben and Fieke Meyer arrived in the dairy heartland of the Waikato in the 1980s to establish Meyer Cheese. Over decades the company, now being run by their son Miel, has become known for its award-winning artisanal cheeses and its care for the environment and the community around them.  

Dutch-style cheeses made in New Zealand are as good as anywhere in the world according to an international cheese judge who travels the globe comparing competition cheeses. Commenting on an award-winning gouda made by Meyer Cheese, he said: “It doesn’t get much better than this. This is a cheese you never want to finish. It’s just stunning.”

Meyer Cheese CEO Miel Meyer, the son of founders Ben and Fieke Meyer and an awarded cheesemaker himself, is rightly pleased about the awards and accolades collected over the years. He also proudly headlines the company’s ongoing care for the environment, its people and animals, and surrounding community.

These are commitments Ben and Fieke established when they began making cheeses in New Zealand in the early 1980s, originally learning their craft from monks in Holland. The Meyer concern for the environment takes a giant leap forward with the opening later this year of the company’s new processing plant. Earthworks have been completed and Miel explains the new facility will be future proof with the options of solar energy or energy captured from effluent currently being evaluated. “Our aim is to ensure an efficient system and workflow process so that no energy is wasted.” He adds the new plant will also provide space and facilities for innovative new products to be developed. 

Like the existing factory, the new facility is located across the driveway from the Meyer dairy farm which supplies much of the milk used in the crafting of the award-winning cheeses. The farm also supplies Fonterra, resulting in all milk produced being utilised.

“Having our new plant built onsite allows us to keep costs low and quality high,” Miel says, adding that the proximity of farm and factory, along with sourcing additional milk including goat and sheep from local suppliers, keeps Meyer Cheese’s food miles low by dramatically reducing the company’s transport and pre-production needs.  

The Meyer ‘green’ journey started with pest control and planting native species on their own land where significant natural areas have long been fenced off for protection. Included is a stand of towering kahikatea trees that the family has dubbed Meyers’ Bush, which Ben and Fieke have augmented over the years by planting many native species, and weeding.  

With its own water supply, irrigation and wastewater treatment, the 200-plus hectare farm operates in a closed-loop system.  To make the farm as sustainable as possible while maintaining production levels, the herd size has been reduced from 450 milking cows to 400.

“Our goal is to achieve a system that relies less on brought-in feed but supports itself,” says Miel.

The cows are predominantly a Jersey-Friesian Kiwi Cross breed. “They produce a beautiful quality of milk that’s very suitable for our semi-hard style of cheeses – and a bonus is that they are a relatively light-footed and adaptable animal,” he says. 

The Meyer commitment to cultivating a healthy environment on the farm has extended into the surrounding community with family and staff teaming up with like-minded individuals and organisations to share information and to source and help nurture and plant many thousands of trees. 

Among the not-for-profits benefitting from Meyer support is Friends of Barrett Bush, a group established in the 1990s that works alongside the Department of Conservation to restore and care for a five-hectare remnant of lowland kahikatea forest on the edge of Hamilton City. Another is Hamilton City Council’s Nature in the City, a 30-year programme to revegetate significant urban areas with native trees. 

Knowing that education empowers individuals as well as communities, Meyer Cheese has set up a simple, effective fundraising initiative. The company supplies its range of cheeses to schools at wholesale prices which is then on-sold to friends and whānau at a slightly higher price level, with profits going to projects and extramural experiences for pupils. Miel says the scheme has proven to be a win-win, popular with schools and families alike.

Over the decades, Meyer Cheese has refined the production of its artisanal Dutch-style gouda. The range includes a special Matariki cheese crafted to celebrate the Māori new year.  Named Raukau Pepa, it is flavoured with the peppery horopito and kawakawa – and available only during the month of Matariki, the Māori name for Pleiades, a cluster of stars that rises mid-winter. This special cheese is available via the company’s website as well as through selected retailers.

The most popular Meyer cheese is its tangy gouda-style cheese that is spiked with cumin seeds. Adding cumin, a nutty, slightly sweet spice to gouda is a very old Dutch tradition.

A mouth-watering range of other herbs and spices permeates other Meyer cheeses which come in mild, tasty and vintage styles along with a well-liked parmesan and a Maasdam-influenced cheese which melts well like mozzarella and has a mild sweet, nutty flavour.

Being mindful of avoiding food waste, Meyer Cheese has teamed up with Hamilton-based bakery Volare Bread, which uses cylinders of cheese (taken from the wheel of cheese during taste testing) in its range of highly popular toasted sandwiches. Often in cheesemaking, this ‘plug’ of perfectly good cheese ends up in the waste bin.