Alaska has a new processing plant, Matanuska Creamery, that will turn 1,100 gallons of local Alaskan milk into cheddar cheese. This marks the first time residents in the Matanuska Valley will have access to cheese made with local milk.
Matanuska Creamery CEO Kyle Beus has worked diligently since December to get this business off the ground.
“We have, as a company policy, we will only use Alaska dairy products,” Beus said. “I mean this is what all this was built for — strictly 100 percent.”
“So we’ve got about 4,000 pounds in the bank that has to age about 60 days and it will be ready to distribute to folks who have pre-bought that,” Beus said.
All the cheese has already been sold, thanks to the Alaska Farmers and Stockgrowers Association. Rob Wells, the vice president of the association calls it an “exciting day” for Alaskan agriculture.
Beus said his goal is to pay dairy farmers a premium price so they won’t ever have to worry about staying afloat, since without them there would be no Matanuska Creamery.