I came across this thread on eGullet the other day: Alice Water’s takes on Artisan Cheese. (And, in case you were wondering, I spend way too much time on eGullet.)

While the entire post (and the linked article with Ms Water’s comments) is quite interesting, the part of the discussion I’m drawn to is, for my purposes, curdnerd’s (aka Jonathan White of Bobolink Dairy) post about the relative harsh realities of being an artisan cheesemaker. He does a good job explaining some of the basics of the business side of cheesemaking. For example:

From an engineering point of view, a cheesemaker converts milk->cheese->cash, with the two arrows representing “transfer functions”.

The first arrow means buying and transporting milk, adding labor, energy, capital equipment amortization, incidental ingredients, and packaging, and turning out a product. If it is an aged cheese, then there is a second phase to this function, namely the ripening room, which is essentially another capital cost, energy cost, plus a 2-18 month time lag.

The second function is the marketing of the cheese, which can be as simple as a cigar box and cooler out by the farm gate, or as complex as warehouses, distributors, salespeople, bill collectors, etc.

He goes on to explain some of the high costs of doing business and hurdles that are unique to the cheese biz, and some of the typical hardships any entrepreneur will face. While none of it seems insurmountable, it does go to show that quite a bit of planning and business savvy is required to make a successful go of it. There was one line, though, that nicely (if you can call it that sums up one of the biggest fears I have regarding the cheese dream:

A well-known cheesemaker of means likes to quip “if you want to make a small fortune in cheese, start with a large one”.

In my first post I mentioned that the cheese dream has often felt like a pipe dream. Part of the reason for that is that I tend to talk rather than act about a lot of different things. The main reason, though, is that it seems like there are lot of “second career” types who, after making their bucks, turn to a back-to-the-land “artisan” lifestyle. Look at Coach Farm (of the Coach leather fortune) and Maytag Blue (of the Maytag appliance fortune) for two (admittedly extreme) examples. I can’t help but think there are plenty of retired stockbrokers, lawyers, and CEOs out there making cheese.

That said, I do believe it’s entirely possible to overcome the fact that I don’t have a large fortune at hand to help make this thing a reality. I do, obviously, need to find out what sort of capital is required to start such a business. Then I’ll need a plan to acquire that capital.

I guess I have my work cut out for me.