Most of us who have shopped in a supermarket have seen Bega Cheese. Many of us have eaten it and enjoyed it, yet not too many perhaps even know where Bega is, and fewer still have been there. Even fewer realise that it is Australia's top selling single cheese brand.
The town of Bega is located about a 100 km north of the Victorian border a few kilometres inland from the coast. The area is known for its stunningly beautiful coastal scenery, oyster farming, fruits and berries, holiday tourism and rich farmland. It is the latter of course that is the basis for the Bega cheese industry.
On July 15, 1899 the Bega Co-operative Creamery Company was formed by a group of local dairy farmers who simply wanted to control their own industry and to improve their individual production and marketing activities. Cheddar cheese had been produced in the valley from 1850 using the rich milk from the dairy herds pastured there. In those days each farmer produced and sold cheese from his own dairy.
The butter factory began production in 1900, and in 1969 a bigger cheese factory was commissioned. Today one hundred and thirty five farmers milk 30,000 cows to produce over 130 million litres of milk annually. Holstein Friesians predominate, complemented by Jerseys, Illawarra Shorthorns, Guernseys and Brown Swiss.
Over half of the milk produced in the region is used for daily market milk consumption, but the remaining milk is processed through the Bega cheddar cheese and associated whey powder plant to produce in excess of 10,000 tonnes of cheddar cheese and 5,000 tonnes of whey powder annually. While this is a massive turnover, the company believes it has the potential to manufacture and distribute 18,000 tonnes of natural cheese and 12,000 tonnes of processed cheese each year
If in the area, a visit to the Bega Cheese Factory and Heritage Centre is a must. Located just north of town, on the banks of the Bega River, visitors can see how cheese is made from the viewing rooms of the factory.
The Bega Heritage Centre is a faithful reproduction of one of the first buildings to be constructed on the Bega Cheese site in 1899. Here you can see how the early farmers lived, worked and transported their product. Once this is done, you can enjoy the finished product at the kiosk which serves everything from a milkshake to a full lunch.
Of course here, you can also taste any of the different varieties of Bega cheese and buy some to take home, plus there's a wide range of gifts and souvenirs. The kiosk is an ideal place for a meal, but you can also enjoy a picnic in the riverside park, which has been set up with picnic pergolas, coin-operated BBQs and a children's playground, and there is ample parking for cars, buses and caravans.
But there is more to this lovely area than just cheese, although while in the region, you should really nip up to Tilba and catch the club cheese artisans at the ABC Cheese Company at work, or even to the Big Cheese at Bodalla, or South Coast Cheese.
There's no shortage of them, or that great liquid that goes so well with them - wine. There are a couple of good vineyards in the area that also provide lunches so you can extend your stay, and even a couple of fruit wineries. So good, that the Bega Valley Winemaking Show (no grape wines, please) even attracts international entries.
In fact, this part of the south coast has it all: all sorts of seafood, farmed oysters, fruits of every description - and that includes tropical ones at one amazing orchard - local pickles and honeys, plus restaurants and cafes where you can enjoy the flavours of the region without even having to lift a finger. There are even a host of comfy B&Bs where you can relax at the end of it all.
Now that is sensible.
We holidayed on the Sapphire Coast, south of NSW. We stayed at Angels Rest, a farm stay which welcomes pets of all kinds. The rooms had Victorian baths and open fires and we enjoyed our cooked breakfast that included a fresh loaf of bread. We then drove to beautiful Tathra Beach followed by the Bega cheese factory and at Bemboka we visited the well known pie shop. Our last stop was Cooma - where we went to the snow for the first time. We took our NRMA Accommodation book with us and booked accommodation as we drove - it was good to be spontaneous.
Rachel, Galston.
You don't even need to take a tour to fully experience Bega. Take a walk along the main street and you'll be surprised by the amount of high quality food and cheeses on offer. The monthly markets also provide visitors with a chance to test out the local produce without venturing too far from town.
Max, Cairns.
4WD
