Sam Penny and wife Helen run Cheese Therapy, a national home-delivery service, from their Sunshine Coast base. The business has been a lifesaver for many small Australian cheesemakers during 2020.

We started Cheese Therapy four years ago, sourcing handmade cheeses from around the country and internationally for our customers to sample by subscribing to a new box each month.

A Victorian cheesemaker called us in January because she was struggling due to bushfires: no-one could visit her cellar door, sales dropped 90% and she had so much cheese ready for the Christmas holidays in danger of being thrown out. We put together a “Milawa Pack” with her cheese, hoping to sell 50 boxes. We sold 2000 (almost two tonnes of cheese), clearing out her summer stock and saving her business.

By mid-March, COVID-19 was presenting similar challenges. We contacted cheesemakers nation-wide, offering to buy overstocked wares for a “Therapy Box”, containing four traditional cheeses from different Australian producers. They’ve been so successful we’ve had to change the contents every 3-4 days as stock sells out. In April, we shipped 10 tonnes of Australian artisan cheese, and about the same in May. Every 10 tonne requires 100,000 litres of milk, so dairy farmers also benefit.

Fifteen home-grown cheesemakers have been involved, with more joining. We’re also now selling standalone cheese and boxes where individual makers supply their four best cheeses and we promote and distribute them nationally. Australians are exploring local cheeses and supporting makers directly, bringing them closer to customers and the community. We have a cheesemaker south of Hobart, whose produce has shipped to the remote Northern Territory town of Nhulunbuy.

Our business has boomed and we have employed more staff and expanded interstate. We outsourced our cheese-cutting to a catering firm affected by the pandemic, and they’ve also hired.

It’s been unbelievable to see Australian cheese-lovers recognise that the local industry needed help and supporting it. We’re proud to have lifted that profile and put local makers in the spotlight – people now realise Australians make really great cheese.

Cheese brings people together – you put a platter on the table and everyone leans in closer to it. Blessed are the cheesemakers!

Sam and Helen Penny
Cheese Therapy