MEET YOUR {OUTSTANDING} MAKER, CRANKY GOAT & MOOODY COW

Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards multiple medal-winner Cranky Goat proves with hard work and determination a hobby can become a rewarding family business. 

Simon Lamb and his family leapt into a completely new career when he, wife Hellene and daughter Hannah established Cranky Goat in 2013.

He had spent his early life as a parachutist, jumping out of planes for the Royal Air Force Regiment before working for New Zealand's air force. After serving 32 years in the military in the UK and New Zealand Simon says he and Hellene  needed to start a new chapter in their lives.

“Our two girls had moved away from home to set up their own lives, so the time was right for us to do something completely different with a whole new set of challenges. So we turned a cheesemaking hobby into a business.” The pair haven’t looked back and now have involved daughter and former pre-school teacher Hannah who looks after marketing and sales. 

Simon’s cheesemaking obsession started in 2011 using goat’s milk from their Marlborough Sounds neighbours. After undertaking plenty of research he taught himself how to make cheese, loving the science behind it.  

Cranky Goat is all about local. Now all the milk from their neighbour’s goat herd is turned into cheese less than an hour after it has been milked. The Lamb’s knocked down their carport and built the cheese facility on their side of their Kenepuru Sound house.

Simon explains when they lived in UK they spent a lot of time in France and so it’s fitting that Cranky Goat Ltd cheese recipes have a strong French influence. All the cheeses are handmade by Simon for the New Zealand palate using traditional artisan methods. This part of the equation is important as Simon and Hellene are conscious of creating cheeses that are suited to Marlborough and tell its story. “Ultimately we want to create a cheese that is unique to New Zealand, similar to what the wine industry has done with Sauvignon Blanc,” Simon explains.

“When we started we were one of the few cheese companies in New Zealand making lactic set French cheeses, these cheeses remain a large part of our Cranky Goat production. We set out to create affordable weekly luxury cheese that evoke memories of France.”

Collaboration is important to the Cranky Goat, they worked with Marlborough’s Lake Chalice winery to create Cullensville Gold, a cheese washed in Lake Chalice Sauvignon Blanc.  While their Cranky Goat Lynton Noir is made with black garlic from Marlborough Garlic.

Cranky Goat is a consistent favourite with the Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards judges and has won multiple medals. This year they received Silver Medals for Cranky Goat Provencal and Cranky Goat The Lynton. In 2018 they were awarded a Gold Medal for Cranky Goat The Reginald and Silver Medals for Cranky Goat Soft Goats Cheese and Cranky Goat The Nag.

More recently as goats are usually dried off over winter, this enterprising couple created a sister brand, aptly called Mooody Cow making cow’s milk cheese from Oaklands A2 skim milk. As well as looking after the marketing Hannah has taken on the mammoth task of organising the South Island Cheese Festival and their oldest daughter Rhianne helps out with sales and markets, trade.  Their grandchildren are also roped in - as taste testers who are always ready with honest feedback.

Cranky Goat is a regular at Marlborough’s weekly farmers’ market and its cheese is available at Farro in Auckland, Wellington’s Moore Wilson’s, Fresh Choice supermarkets in the top of the south and Canterbury Cheese Mongers in Christchurch as well as through their website www.crankygoatltd.co.nz