Cornell University will introduce a six-month aged mild white cheddar this fall. The cheddar, called Big Red Cheddar, will be sold online and in campus retail outlets such as Cornell Orchards and the Cornell Store, in one and two pound wheels.
The cheeses were developed by dairy extension specialist Rob Ralyea, with the help of Brian Bailey, master cheese maker at Yancey’s Fancy cheese company, and Howard Van Buren of Chr. Hansen, an international company that develops natural ingredients for the food, pharmaceutical, nutritional and agricultural industries.
The cheese will be marketed mainly to Cornell’s 300,000 alumni, students, faculty and staff, but Cornell Dining and Cornell Catering are also expected to be large wholesale customers. They currently use about 2,400 pounds of mild cheddar per year.
Kathryn Boor, the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, was among those who tested the cheeses.
“Cornell Big Red Cheddar represents not only a great new product to come out of Cornell Dairy, but also our expanded efforts to support the New York dairy industry and its emerging entrepreneurs in cheese, yogurt and other fermented products,” Boor said.
“It seems like there has been a rebirth in the state for dairy, and it’s a great time to be in this industry. We have really good milk, we have good students, we have good support, we have good products,” added Bailey, of Yancey’s Fancy. “I’m really excited about what’s going on at Cornell, and I’m glad to be a small part of it.”
Source: Cornell University