by Dan Lemke

The inspiration for new business ventures can come from just about anywhere, including the kitchen.

Friends Jackie Ohmann and Deeann Lufkin enjoyed brewing beer and wine together as a hobby. During one of their brewing sessions more than a decade ago, they hit upon the idea of fermenting milk instead of beer and wine. Ohmann had married a dairy farmer, so they decided to try their hand at making cheese.

“We got a gallon of milk out of the bulk tank and got some cultures from the beer and wine supply store because they also sell cheesemaking supplies, and we tried making cheese,” Ohmann recalls. “We thought it was kind of cool to make liquid into a solid.”

Initial efforts

The first effort may have left a little to be desired, but over time, Ohmann and Lufkin honed their cheesemaking skills. Family and friends liked their curdy creations, so the pair pondered making a business out of their hobby. Ohmann worked in ministry and Lufkin was a retired Air Force meteorologist who at one point was assigned to the Hurricane Hunters division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She found the prospects of starting a business from scratch to be more intimidating than storm-chasing.

“I used to do kind of a dangerous job before,” Lufkin says, “and people would ask me, ‘What’s scarier?’ This is much more scary than flying into a hurricane. It’s terrifying.”

Ohmann’s parents had owned and operated several businesses, so entrepreneurship wasn’t totally foreign to her, but the pair of southeastern Minnesota women recognized that if they were going to make a go of their cheese business, it was going to require some help. They approached another friend, Kathy Hupf, who years ago had owned her own dairy herd and was looking for a way to get back into the dairy industry. She willingly agreed to join and CannonBelles was born.

Lessons and visits

The women took cheesemaking courses and visited numerous cheesemakers across Minnesota and Wisconsin. They also worked with a consultant to better understand how to craft a successful business. For nearly seven years, CannonBelles made its cheeses at the University of Minnesota cheese lab, because the equipment and sanitation needed to make cheese can’t be found at most commercial kitchens.

In 2015, they were approached by the city of Cannon Falls about locating their production there. Without a suitable existing building to meet the needs of cheesemaking, two years ago CannonBelles built its own production facility on the edge of town.

CannonBelles now produces 20 different varieties of cheese including queso fresco to Tuscan cheddar and Gouda. Most of the ingredients the company uses in its cheeses, including the milk, are purchased from suppliers within a few miles of Cannon Falls. The artisan cheeses are available at more than 80 retail outlets, primarily in southeast Minnesota. CannonBelles cheese is also part of the farm-to-school program, so the company's products are served at eight Minnesota schools.

Ohmann, Hupf and Lufkin say they all bring different strengths to the operation. Ohmann does the bookwork, Lufkin brings the science background and is the main cheesemaker, while Hupf heads up the marketing efforts. It’s an arrangement that has helped the trio find success while still remaining friends.

'Quite a journey'

“It has been quite a journey,” Hupf says. “There have been phenomenal highs, and there have been some struggling days where we’ve faced many challenges. But through it all, we’ve learned an enormous amount, and we’ve grown a really solid business for ourselves with the help of many people.”

“We sat with a lawyer and we mapped out our roles and responsibilities, worst-case scenarios and all that to stave off problems,” Lufkin explains. “The one thing that we always have to remember is that we’re friends, and we need to go have fun together and get away from this building. Kind of like a marriage. We need to go on dates once in a while and remember that we’re friends.”

Learn more about CannonBelles cheese at cannonbelles.com.

Lemke writes from Madison Lake, Minn.