"What are you doing here, girl? Go back and make your own cheese." Cheese factory owner on the best job in the world

Natalka Kovach from Zakarpattia won a silver award at the World Cheese Awards 2023. This was her first participation in the World Cheese Olympics.

Three years earlier, she and her family had bought their first cow and tried to make cheese for their children. Now she has a solid business: a farm with fifty cows and a cheese dairy with room for experimentation and even creativity – almost a studio for creating new cheeses.

LIGA.net asked the founder of the family farm about her path, the challenges and how to overcome them, and other components of success. And about the cheese tastes of Ukrainians.

The first cheese – everything is simple

When did you start making cheese?

During the quarantine, during the COVID. Our whole family – and this includes my husband and four children – actually found themselves under blockade. At that time, everyone was afraid and did not leave their homes. It was hard to sit around doing nothing. So I started asking my husband to buy a cow. After all, there is always work around milk. And milk always feeds.