Gabrielle Kervella and Alan Cockman. Photo: Supplied
The exit of another artisan cheesemaker has left a growing number of holes in the industry.
Nelson's Kervella Cheese is closing down citing brutal compliance costs and a seven-day a week schedule to keep the business going.
The Specialist Cheese Makers Association said eight businesses out of about 40 have shut in the past three years.
Kervella Cheese has been around for more than two decades and is one of very few businesses allowed to make raw cheese.
Master cheesemaker Gabrielle Kervella - apprenticed in France where she lived for 20 years - and Alan Cockman run the Tasman business.
"It's heartbreaking, but we just can't keep on working at the rate that we do, as much as we love the business," she told Checkpoint.
"We're not taking any money from it ourselves, and we only have two part-time girls that work with us, and so that means we're working seven days a week through the season, and it's just got to the stage where we can't manage it anymore, which is heartbreaking for us.
"You know, if we could have a large input of money, and we would need to get five times larger to keep the business running, then that would be possible, but otherwise we need to shut."
Kervella said compliant costs - another $5000 a year - on top of expenses to test the cheese meant they had to run a very tight business just to survive, which she said wasn't feasible and was exhausting.
She said the business only sold locally and feared the end could be near for raw cheese in New Zealand.
"We're supposed to support locals if we possibly can, and admittedly, I think people go for the imported cheese because it is so much cheaper," Kervella said.
"But if you want the local cheese, then we have to pay the few dollars extra, maybe get less of it, because once we're gone, once our knowledge of traditional raw cheese is gone, then it's not going to
come back again, which for me is heartbreaking."
Kervella said her business is one of only two that make raw cheese.
She warned unless drastic changes were made, all cheese-making will be done in large factories and automatically packaged.
Kervella said she was quoted a million dollars to grow their business to an operating level.
"The facilities would have to be upgraded, and we would need better equipment to collect the milk, and then we would need the staff, so all the different hats that we wear, there's probably going to have to be at least one person doing it," she said.
"That isn't a figure I've sucked out of my head, we've had professional people draw that figure out for us, so, you know, accountants and everything's been involved."
Kervella said she wasn't sure anyone would be able to help them, but was remaining hopeful.
"I don't know, we would love to think so, because I think you get very attached to these businesses when you put your heart and soul into it, and we would love to see it," she said.
"We would love to see it to the community of Golden Bay, and once we're gone, we don't want anything for it, we would just need a bit of money meanwhile.
"Then the whole business could remain as a part of Golden Bay's business, and we love the thought of that."
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