A Tale of Two Cheesemakers
Two separate family cheesemaking operations, one in North Queensland and one in Victoria, continue to operate into the 2020s, each maintained by a member of the older generation.
Habana, Queensland
Philippa Abela, 80, of Habana near Mackay, milks two Jersey-Swiss Brown cross cows each morning, finishing by 6:30am. She uses rennet to separate curds and whey, producing approximately 13 types of cheese.
Abela's family emigrated from Malta to Australia in 1950. They purchased a cane farm in Habana and kept dairy cows to supply milk to a local butter factory. Abela learned cheesemaking from her mother, who adapted traditional Maltese sheep's milk cheese recipes to cow's milk. Two original cheese types remain in production: a soft ricotta-like cheese used for pastizzis and a firm vinegar-pickled pepper cheese.
A Legacy of Craft
Abela reports producing up to 90 kilograms of pepper cheese in a year for friends and community events. She does not sell cheese commercially. She occasionally teaches cheesemaking classes.
Abela and her late husband ceased commercial dairying approximately 30 years ago following market deregulation. Since his death two years ago, she continues to feed beef cattle, mow, and weed.
"The retail side of my business has grown more than 200 percent in recent years."
— Michael Zannella, general manager of Cheeselinks
Michael Zannella, general manager of Cheeselinks, a supplier of cheesemaking ingredients and equipment, attributes this growth to younger customers valuing artisan production and craftsmanship.
Pakenham, Melbourne
John Interlandi, 90, continues his work as a cheesemaker alongside his 30-year-old grandson, Michael, at the Europa Cheese factory in Pakenham, Melbourne. He has expressed no interest in retirement.
Born in Korumburra, south-east of Melbourne, Interlandi was raised on a dairy farm within the local Italian community. His father, an Italian migrant who arrived in Australia in the late 1920s, bought and developed 121 hectares of land with two others. The land was initially used for potato farming before transitioning to dairy.
A History of Italian Cheesemaking
According to food historian Tania Cammarano, Italian migrants initially came to Gippsland in the mid-1800s and early 1900s for jobs in goldfields and coal mines. Following World War II, a significant wave of agricultural laborers, primarily potato and dairy farmers, settled in Gippsland due to economic hardship in Europe.
With limited availability of continental cheeses and a growing European migrant population desiring varieties such as pecorino and parmesan, Interlandi's father began making cheese from boiled milk. This practice was spurred by low payments for milk from local factories.
Cammarano notes that Italian cheese, initially labeled 'fancy cheese,' gained popularity in Australia after the 1950s. This was supported by the establishment of Italian restaurants in the 1920s and 1930s, and the publication of Australia's first Italian cookbook in 1937. By 1952, 'fancy cheese' debuted as a category at the Royal Melbourne Show.
From Hawthorn to Pakenham
In 1971, Interlandi and his wife Jackie obtained a factory license. They established Europa Cheese with a factory and shopfront in Hawthorn, primarily selling wheels of pecorino and parmesan. After 16 years, operations moved to a larger facility in Dandenong, producing up to 4 tonnes of cheese weekly for distribution across all states except Tasmania.
Europa Cheese relocated from Dandenong to Pakenham in 2005, supplying grated cheese to companies including Patties and Heinz. Interlandi observes a contemporary market preference for Australian and local products over imported goods. The Europa brand was sold in November 2025.