Beyond imagination
When the dairy farm was established at the Saghaug farm in 2003, this kind of success was beyond everyone’s imagination. In the early days, Solvor Waagen produced the cheese in the bathroom. A whole ton of it, incredibly enough. The separate dairy and farm shop were built in 2006.
To a great extent, the success is due to the use of quality ingredients. The cheese is made with pasteurized cow's milk from their own farm. To ensure that the milk is of top quality, they grow ten different types of grass.
Size matters
There is no doubt that size has played a big part for Tingvoll. It's important to be small – not too small but in any case definitely not too big. Their first goal was to become a leading cheese producer in Møre og Romsdal. Now, as the farmers of the best cheese in the world, lots of new customers are lining up.
Expanding is not an option, however. They may adjust a little bit, but not expand. They use every centimetre of the warehouse, have invested 20 million NOK and are happy with the profit margins and the 20 tons of cheese they produce.
“We have been very self-critical and moved forward one cheese at a time. At one point we produced seven cheeses. We stopped three of them in order to focus on the remaining four. We started winning prizes already in 2008 – Norwegian, Nordic and international competitions. We didn't want to conquer the world, but rather be the best at what we do. You are not your best until you receive a gold medal in everything you do.”
