MARIPOSA DAIRY
GROWING BUSINESS, DEVELOPING PRODUCTS, CREATING JOBS
From its beginnings at a small farm near Oakwood in 1989, to now being the second largest goat cheese producer in Canada, Mariposa Dairy has seen unprecedented growth. The KLCFDC has been a part of the business for almost 10 years now and have provided support to this incredible expansion on a number of occasions.
“The CFDC helped us when we first went to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair in the mid-2000’s, allowing us to expand awareness of our brand and the quality of our product”, says Bruce Vandenberg. Bruce and his wife, Sharon, have seen their vision of, “…a small goat herd from which we would sell some product off the farm,” according to Sharon, to a 40,000+ square foot facility, which at peak periods employs upwards of 100 people.
“When we approached the KLCFDC in 2009 about a small business loan, they agreed to lend us the money when it wasn’t that easy for us to get all the financing we needed. This was a critical point in our growth and the Board of Directors and staff made the whole thing simple and smooth. Over time we have asked for assistance a number of times and the support we’ve received has helped us in automation, product development, training and most recently, when we needed to double our capacity by building a new production facility.”
- Bruce and Sharon Vandenburg, Owner/Operators, Mariposa Dairy
The quality of the Mariposa Dairy product, often marketing under the brand name, Celebrity Cheeses, is now world-renowned, with numerous national and international awards as well as superb recognition locally and regionally. The Vandenbergs are very proud of this but what is even more important for them is the support they bring back to the community. “Over 80% of every dollar we secure in product sales stays in Ontario and about 70% is within 100 miles of our plant.” Bruce goes on to state, “The KLCFDC has played as much a part in our success as almost anyone we’ve worked with.”