THE queue from the counter reaches the front door at Boosey Creek Cheese.
Every customer wants to get a taste before they hop back on their bus for the trip back to Melbourne.
Behind the counter, with hair pulled back in white nets, Ken and Margi Cameron are busy filling orders and providing samples for tasting.
Next door, a clean and empty rotary dairy sits idle. It is 10.30am and this is Boosey Creek Cheese, at Boosey in northern Victoria.
The cheese factory and dairy farm are owned and run by Ada and Don Cameron and their family.
Now in its third year of operation, their brand has hit the shelves of nine IGA supermarkets in Melbourne, Geelong and Bendigo.
It is a step up from the farmers' markets, which the family regularly attend across Victoria, and where their farmhouse cheese brand built a solid reputation.
Looking back at their decision to diversify the dairy farm and make cheese, Ada and Don - who had been contemplating semi-retirement - said it had been the right move at the time.
"If we'd left it until later we wouldn't have been able to do it," daughter-in-law Margi added, referring to the drought and lower milk prices.
Although only 4 per cent of the milk from the Cameron's 400-head Holstein herd is used to produce the 10 tonnes of Boosey Creek cheese each year, the brand has helped the business by providing an additional "cash-flow element".
The family milks three times a day, and supplies Parmalat with four million litres a year from their 526ha property.
The consistency of flat supply and premium quality milk plays a vital role in cheese production.
"Calving all year round (means) the components are fairly even," Ken said.
The family was recently recognised with four silver medals at the Sydney Royal Cheese and Dairy Produce Awards.
Medal winners included fetta Yarrawonga White and cheddar Tungamah Tasty. The Yarrawonga White was also awarded a gold medal at last year's Australian Specialist Cheese Show in Melbourne.
For the Camerons, success on the cheese front has combined with the good news of up to 78 per cent irrigation allocation this year on the farm.
Meanwhile, Boosey Creek Cheese is behind a family fun day to raise money for Kidney Health Australia..
Julie and Robert Cameron have organised a market and entertainment event at the Long Cabin Park, Cobram, for April 10.
Their 14-year-old daughter, Amy, suffers from kidney renal failure and requires a transplant.
For further details, phone Julie on (03) 5748 4377.
