Export of Oregon blue cheese a sign of growth in artisanal market

CENTRAL POINT (AP) — The export of a Southern Oregon blue cheese is stunning picky Europeans while being touted at home as another advance in the business of introducing small-scale artisan Oregon products to the world.

The Rogue Creamery’s Rogue River Blue Cheese won the best-in-the-world title at the 2003 World Cheese Awards in London, but creamery president David Gremmels said it took years to solve regulatory problems that kept the raw milk product from export.

The cheese arrived in Britain last month and is expected to be shipped to Holland, France, Spain and Italy this year, Gremmels said at the recent Oregon Dairy Farmers Convention.

When the cheese was being evaluated for the World Cheese Awards, none of the judges in the blind competition even considered that the cheese had been produced outside of Europe, Gremmels said.

“When it was announced that it was American, they were all in shock,” he said.

He expects sales to be strong based on “the experience and anomaly of having the only raw- milk American cheese in Europe.”

And he doesn’t expect price to be a problem, even at $45 a pound — before shipping costs.

Meanwhile, the cost of imported Roquefort and Stilton is helping to turn the attention of domestic customers to American artisanals such as the Rogue products, he said.

Lisbeth Goddik, food science and technology professor at Oregon State University, said the domestic market for such cheeses is growing and can grow more.

She said the average American eats about 33 pounds of cheese a year, compared to 63 pounds for the average Dane or 57 pounds by the average Greek.

“There’s room for growth,” she said.