OUR STORY

FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

Founded in 1994, Woodside Cheese Wrights began as an unassuming cheese factory in the small town of Woodside in the Adelaide Hills.

When Kris Lloyd took charge in 1999 she was given the challenge of running a cheese factory with zero cheesemaking experience to her name. So, Kris began to tirelessly study cheese and the cheesemaking process.

Coming from a Greek family, where she was taught a great respect for food and that food is always the hero, Kris wanted to bring that philosophy to her cheesemaking: Cheese is a complete food and can and should be the hero of any menu, platter or dish.

Kris focussed on highlighting the flavour and seasonality of the quality local cow and goat milk she had at her fingertips, sourced from nearby local dairies. True to the artisan meaning, Woodside Cheese Wrights produces every cheese by hand using traditional methods originating in Switzerland, Italy and France that Kris adapted to reflect Australian milk, conditions and cheesemaking practices.

It wasn’t long until, in 2002, Woodside Cheese Wrights was first awarded with the Grand Dairy Award for best goat cheese in Australia for the sexy geotrichum mould goat cheese: Edith. And the accolades would continue, with Half Cow-Half Goat Cheese Etzy Ketzy winning a Gold Medal at the World Cheese Awards in 2009, and two more Gold at the World Cheese Awards in 2011.

REINVENTING WOODSIDE

KRIS LLOYD ARTISAN

Never one to rest on her laurels, Kris continued innovating and finding unique and distinctly Australian ways to make cheese. In 2014, Kris was lucky enough to access the first ever Buffalo herd in South Australia, which paved the way for her new label "Kris Lloyd Artisan". Kris was determined to create a different range of Buffalo cheeses, cheese that were not expected of Buffalo Milk. Kris Lloyd Artisan began with a range of Buffalo Curds, Buffalo Persian Feta, Buffalo Chevre’s and Soft and Semi Hard Buffalo milk cheeses and grown over the years to include Cow and Goat Milk cheeses wth a point of difference.

“My cheesemaking is a bit unorthodox in many respects. Brie's and Camembert's tell a French story, and I wanted to make cheese that tells a story about my country. For example, no one in the world is putting green ants on cheese, except for me. It’s my story and a story about an Australian cheesemaker, Australian ingredients and Australian milk. This has all led me to be mindful about the cheeses I’m producing now.”

Kris Lloyd AM

DISTINCTLY AUSTRALIAN CHEESES

OUR NATIVE RANGE

With creativity at her fingertips after being awarded the National Telstra Business Women’s Award for Innovation in 2010, Kris began experimenting with Native Australian flavours. She wanted to celebrate the distinctive character of the land. Supported by Chef Jock Zonfrillo and Warndu, Woodside Cheese Wrights unveiled their native range in 2012, including our selection of fresh, tangy chèvre flavoured with Lemon Myrtle, Saltbush, or Native Pepperberry - or the beautiful Picasso - a semi hard Buffalo cheese encrusted in native herbs and flowers such as callistemon & acacia. 

At the 2016 World Cheese Awards in San Sebastian, Spain, Woodside Cheese Wrights was honoured to receive a Super Gold Medal for Anthill – fresh goat chevre encrusted with native Australian Green Ants -coming in at number 11 out of 3021 cheeses. In the 2022 World Cheese Awards, Anthill reprised it’s Super Gold Status and was crowned Best Australian Cheese.

Woodside Cheese Wrights is now a family affair, with son and Senior Cheesemaker Mitchell Lloyd leading an enthusiastic team of cheesemakers since 2015.

For us, cheesemaking is an art form, and we continue to make cheeses unlike anywhere else in the world.