Another of southeastern Ontario’s long-operating cheesemakers has picked up provincial funding to put in a new waste water treatment system.
Maple Dale Cheese, based at Plainfield, about 15 km north of Belleville, plans to use $400,000 in rural economic development funds to “implement a fully functioning waste water treatment system.”
“The plant’s waste water would be treated to exceed current environmental standards and help in the provincial initiative for safe drinking water,” the province said in a release Tuesday.
With the province’s backing, “we can focus our energies on making quality local cheeses, knowing we’ve effectively and efficiently reduced our environmental impact,” Maple Dale chief Keith Henry said in the province’s release.
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Then known as the Zion Cheese Manufacturing Co., Maple Dale was founded in 1888 as a co-operative of 27 dairy farmers. The company, which was purchased to become a privately held family firm in 1987, is now run by Henry and his family and employs over 40 people.
The company specializes in aged cheddar and operates a roadside retail store which also offers ice cream, maple syrup, honey, jams and preserves.
Maple Dale won a grand champion title in 1994 at one of the main cheese shows in Canada, the British Empire Cheese Show.
The province has announced funding for similar wastewater system upgrades at other cheese plants in recent weeks.
“These projects will enable cheese makers to remain strong in today’s economy, and will help these companies to reduce their environmental impact,” former provincial ag minister Leona Dombrowsky, the area’s MPP and now the province’s education minister, said in the release.
