She’s served her own cheese to King Charles III, started a festival that draws thousands of people, been inducted into the International Cheesemakers Guild and established a brand that’s enjoyed around the world.
But South Australia’s queen of cheese, Kris Lloyd, never intended to be a cheesemaker.
Kris took on Woodside Cheese Wrights in 1999 as a means of value-adding to the wine tasting offerings of her family’s core business, Coriale Vineyards.
But even then she said making cheese was “never, ever, ever” on her radar.
The early days of Woodside Cheese Wrights wasn’t always smooth sailing – Kris says there was a time when they threw out more cheese than they sold.
But not long after taking on the business, Kris was thrust into cheesemaking and never looked back.
“There was a day that everyone was sick … and there was one other girl there and she was packing the orders and she just said ‘you’re just going to have to go in and make the cheese, because there’s milk down in the vat and there’s another delivery of milk coming’,” Kris says.
“So I went in … and I just followed the recipe.
“… I did my best, but I thought, ‘this is extraordinary – I love this – here I’ve got milk and now here I’ve got cheese and I made it’.
“And I was just thrilled and I just thought I was so clever.
“… Again it still wasn’t my intention to go back in there, but I think I was bitten then, I actually was in hook line and sinker.
“I couldn’t keep out of there.”
Kris took on Woodside Cheese Wrights in 1999 as a means of value-adding to the wine tasting offerings of her family’s core business, Coriale Vineyards, and never looked back.
Over the following years Kris travelled overseas to learn more about the cheesemaking process, read extensively, attended workshops and networked with other cheesemakers.
“I guess then it was just trial and error, trial and error, a bit more overseas, a bit more really being objective with what we were making and entering a lot of shows.
“We were starting to really kick some goals.”
After establishing her core products, Kris – who also has her own jewellery range – began releasing her creativity into the cheesemaking process, developing the unique, colourful and often unexpected offerings that she’s best known for, under both the Woodside Cheese Wrights and Kris Lloyd Artisan brands.
Her first was the Monet – a goat chevre encrusted with seasonal herbs and edible flowers, like pansies, marigolds and fennel flowers, reminiscent of French impressionist painter Claude Monet’s work.
It’s still her best selling cheese, can be found on premium cheese platters at New York’s Madison Square Garden and has been served to the now-King Charles III.
“King Charles has eaten it twice, at Penfolds Magill Estate … and then another time at Seppeltsfield when he was still prince and visited with Camilla,” Kris says.
“At Penfolds Magill Estate, he said ‘oh Camilla, come see, you must come see this cheese, it’s extraordinary’.
“And Maggie Beer was really looking after us that day, she was in charge and she said ‘right the Royals don’t eat, don’t feed them, don’t try and feed them’.
“So there we were, we’re looking at the Monet and everyone’s looking at it, and everyone’s still looking at it.
“And what does Kris say? ‘Would you like to try some?’ So I got into trouble for that.” The Monet sparked a series of other creative pursuits – some that proved to be lasting additions to Kris’ range and others, including a horseradish creation, that didn’t.
Among her premium offerings today are a lemon myrtle chevre, the Golden Blossom goat chevre covered in native herbs and edible flowers and drizzled in Australian honey and, perhaps her most adventurous endeavour, the Anthill, featuring native green ants and inspired by the late Jock Zonfrillo.
“One of the ones that was the real stand-out was the Anthill,” Kris says.
“And that was Jock – Jock saying, look Kris, I’ve got this crazy ingredient and I thought of you … and he gave me the ants and I thought ‘what the hell am I going to do with these’.
“… I just went back to basics and thought ‘I’m just going to sprinkle them on top of a goat cheese.
“You’ve got acid, kaffir lime, lemongrass, beautiful flavours there … and we just added a little touch of Adelaide Hills lemon myrtle.”
With boundless energy, Kris has also pursued her passion for connecting and promoting cheesemakers in South Australia, starting CheeseFest in 2006, setting up the Artisan Cheese Making Academy Australia and establishing specialist association Cheese SA.
In 2010 she won the national Telstra Business Women’s Award for Innovation, she’s been inducted into Guilde Internationale des Fromagers, an international cheese makers’ organisation, and in 2020 she was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution to the artisan cheesemaking industry, tourism and education.
But she still finds time to enjoy cooking in her own home kitchen.
“I love it – it’s definitely my relaxing thing,” she says.
“I love really fresh (dishes), whatever’s in season – lots of salads, lots of vegetables.” When I joined her in her kitchen, she put together a fresh, seasonal salad, with locally grown rocket and olives, red onion, pumpkin and a sprinkling of pine nuts, dressed with a homemade dressing of olive oil, lemon juice, garlic and dijon mustard.
In keeping with her love for cheese, the star of the dish is her own grilled buffalo haloumi.
It’s a dish that’s perfect for a spring evening, with a side of lamb cutlets.
And in contrast to some of the decadent, eye-catching creations that come out of her Woodside factory, remarkably simple.
“But sometimes simple’s good,” she says.
