When starting any type of business, you want to have something that will set your products apart from others on the market.
This is a must in the ever-growing Artisan Cheese “Industry” to have a unique, high-quality product that will set you apart in the market. Using Thistlezyme has helped us produce unique cheeses and has opened up new areas of the market place for us as well.
How Thistlezyme Helped Us.
Thistlezyme® is a proteolytic enzyme derived from Cynara cardunculus flowers, which is a type of Thistle flower. The enzyme is extracted through a water extraction method, and is then concentrated and standardized to ensure that every lot has the same activity. Here at Winding Road Artisan Cheese in Smoky Lake, Alberta Canada, we received our first 24 liter order of Thistlezyme in March of 2016, and we have finally finished that container and opened our 2nd order. Over the last 2 years we did not see any loss in the effectiveness of the Thistle rennet and did not need to make any adjustments to its dosage in our formulas.
Even though rennet makes up a small percentage of the ingredients of cheese, there are a growing number of consumers that steer clear of cheeses that are made from Animal Rennet. While there is nothing wrong with cheese made with these types of rennet, a growing portion of consumers wants to have cheeses that are “animal/vegetarian” friendly. Thistlezyme® is a true vegetarian rennet, and it is organic compliant. We find that this gives us an advantage when trying to get into certain organic markets that cater to vegetarians. There are some organic markets that will allow non-organic cheese that is vegetarian friendly.
As a cheesemaker, I know you want to produce a high quality, unique product that will help you get that edge in the market. Thistlezyme has helped us, and can help you produce unique flavours and textures that traditional rennet types cannot. This unique protease has helped us produce a wonderfully gooey Bloomy Rind Cheese and an amazing runny washed rind cheese. But it is not just for soft cheeses, we’ve also found that it works well in harder cheeses like Cheddar, Gouda, and more. At Winding Road Cheese, we prefer Thistle rennet to microbial “vegetarian” rennet because it does not have the bitterness associated with those “vegetarian” rennets. It tends to add more herbal flavours and in some cheeses helps to bring out certain umami flavours.
We found that the Thistlezyme Advantage has given us a “leg up” in the market place, and we encourage you to try it to see what it could do for your business.
***Disclosure – Ian Treuer is Co-Owner and Head Cheese Maker of Winding Road Cheese and is the only cheesemaker in Canada using Thistlezyme®. He is also a Thistlezyme® Consultant with the Enzyme Development Corporation due to his work developing “Best Practices” in using Thistlezyme® in cheese making.