This creamy cheese has been in development at Whitestone for the last two years, using a unique mould strain found in North Otago. When we talk about it, it s like that style of a gorgonzola, but we re calling it Oamaru blue because it s here from Oamaru, says Simon Berry, managing director of Whitestone Cheese and spokesperson for New Zealand Specialist Cheesemakers Association.
Developing unique varieties is set to become more important. The European Union wants to ban other countries from using their cheese names in local products. So if we re producing a gruyere here in New Zealand, we re going to have to change our names once these negotiations come through, Berry says.