Manitoba cheese producer places second in American cheese competition

One Manitoba cheese maker has been recognized for having some of the best cheeses in North America, after placing second in the American Cheese Society Conference.

“Making cheese is kind of like a passion, it’s kind of like a geek thing,” said Fabiola Della Pria, the owner of Unique Brazilian Dairy.

“I love cheese making. It’s also a relationship among people. I believe that food can unite people, you know.” 

What started out as a normal trip to Buffalo, New York, just to gain more tips on how to better her cheese, ended in a complete surprise. Pria placed second in the Best Fresh Cheese – Spanish-Portuguese category.

“Everybody was like, ‘you won, you have to get up and get your medal.’ I was like shocked, ‘I won, okay!’ because I was not expecting that,” explained Pria.

Pria and her husband moved to Canada from Brazil nine years ago. Before they came to Manitoba, they owned a cheese farm in the cheese province of their home country and learned how to make it there. Pria’s winning cheese from the competition is called minas frescal and originates from her Brazilian roots.

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“It’s a fresh, soft, and mild cheese. Texture would be closest to fresh Mozza but taste, is very unique. You can combine this in many dishes. You can make pastas, dishes, charcuterie board, so there are many ways you could eat that.”

Pria, who has owned her business for two years, makes other products and these products can be found in several stores across the province, including the St. Norbert’s Farmers Market. She says she is hoping to start distributing across Canada in the near future.

“Our cheese is a fresh cheese, so it is very hard to import this here, so it gets a very short shelf life, so producing it inside of Canada is the only way we can carry this legacy across Canada.”