Monforte Renaissance

Ruth Klahsen is a master of metaphors. According to a blog the artisanal cheesemaker writes for the website of her company, Monforte Dairy, perfect cheese is the Super Bowl of her craft, the ever-dangling carrot that gets her up every morning.

These days, Klahsen also sees herself as a little like an obstetrician or a midwife birthing a baby. She's doing something challenging and at times profoundly difficult. But ultimately, the rewards will be great.

Until last year, Monforte Dairy was based in Millbank, Ont., just west of Waterloo Region in Perth County. It was producing a good three-dozen types of sheep and goat milk cheeses and had doubled its sales every year for the previous five. Klahsen was a darling of Ontario chefs and food connoisseurs.

But then the rent went up for the factory space she was using, so much so that renewing the lease wasn't an option. Operations had to cease and local lovers of Monforte products -- everything from pecorino to 0ricotta to organic garlic scape cheddar -- found that their sources (Vincenzo's and the Knechtel Cheese stand at the Kitchener Market) had none to sell.

The great news is that Klahsen and her support team have plans to resume production in a Stratford building, once a 6,000 square foot addition has been constructed.

"Floor plans are looking firm, and we're meeting with the architect and landlord this week," Klahsen told me.

In addition to the dairy, the site will have a cheesemaking school where budding professionals will apprentice (and, possibly, where foodies and kitchen tinkerers might be able to take weekend classes). The plan is for Monforte to acquire ownership of the building after five years.

The most interesting aspect about Monforte's expected "renaissance," however, is how Klahsen is raising money using the community-supported agriculture (CSA) model, which has typically been used for growing and selling fruits and vegetables, not for making cheese.

CSA programs create a direct link between customers and producers. Customers prepay for their product, which gives the business (and the farmers who supply it) much-needed capital to get started. Customers then reap the rewards when the "harvest" begins.

To fund the dairy, Klahsen has begun to sell cheese subscriptions.

There are three types. The most affordable subscription, for the average Joe, will require a $200 investment and will net the investor $250 worth of vouchers that can be exchanged, beginning in 2010, for $50 worth of cheese a year for five years. The other investment options cost $500 or $1,000 and will, obviously, mean getting vouchers for a greater amount of cheese.

As Klahsen sees it, $200 subscriptions are almost as meaningful as $1,000 subscriptions, although they do "whoop and cheer" for those, too, she says.

"I love the $200 one," she says. "If someone puts in $200, they've really had to think about it and be careful about their financial choices."

So far, Monforte has sold about 310 subscriptions. It has set a goal to raise $1 million and hopes to reach it by the end of the year.

Already, it has obtained $143,000. Investors are told they will get their money back if the goal isn't reached.

"If it wasn't for this grassroots thing, we wouldn't have a chance," Klahsen says, noting that the banks just wouldn't come through for her.

"We'd be done. I'm so grateful we have this as an option."

Most crucial, she says, is that the rebuilding of Monforte will help sustain the operations of several farmers. Before production ceased, the dairy was using sheep and goat milk obtained from 19 Mennonite farmers. Now it's down to one, using that milk to make hard cheeses at a dairy in Lindsay, Ont. That cheese won't be ready to sell for several months.

Once operations get going next year, Klahsen hopes to keep as many as 25 farmers going.

"That's the most important thing we do in all of this," she insists.

"I love making cheese, but that doesn't mean a hill of beans if farming isn't sustainable."

For more information about Monforte cheese and its CSA program, visit www.monfortedairy. com or phone 1-877-437-5553. Klahsen is also holding a "town hall" information session at 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 17 at Stratford City Hall.