News & Events

5th Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival

August 18 in Whistler, B.C.: Natural Pastures Cheese is selected through vigorous testing to produce the special 11-pound Championship wheels of Cracked Pepper Verdelait cheese for the Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival. After racing the wheels down the grassy, steep, mountain race course, the winners get to take home the giant, coveted wheels of Natural Pastures cheese! Between adult races, kids race uphill on the course, or cheese bowl the obstacle course or play cheesey twister. Come also to taste delicious cheeses in the Cheese Market, or win a luxury get-away. Dairy Farmers of Canada have carefully selected and purchased Natural Pastures Cheeses every year of the Championship, as the special wheels of cheeses for the races and grand prizes. Come and taste a variety of the pure, luscious cheeses, and meet Edgar Smith, Vice-President and Mary Ann Hyndman Smith. Read more...

10th Annual Tofino Food & Wine Festival
June 1-3

Main event: Grazing in the Gardens, Tofino Botanical Gardens

Since 2003, Grazing in the Gardens has been dedicated to showcasing local culinary creativity, excellence and professionalism, complemented by British Columbia’s finest wines.

The unique setting of Tofino Botanical Gardens and the exceptional quality of food and wine provided by local producers, chefs and winemakers truly celebrates the marriage of food and wine. A delicious opportunity to taste Natural Pastures cheeses, and to meet Edgar Smith and Mary Ann Hyndman Smith. Highlights of the Grazing include live music, fresh shucked oysters, gourmet bites by local chefs, 100% BC wines and Natural Pastures Cheese. More info ... 

Grocery Showcase West
(industry trade show)

Sunday & Monday, April 22 & 23
Vancouver Trade & Convention Centre

Grocery Showcase West is regarded as THE epicenter for growth and development in the Western Canadian grocery industry. 2012 is the 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers and on April 22nd & 23rd, the "who's who" of the industry will be in Vancouver for Grocery Showcase West 2012 to commemorate this! The main players from the West, of Canada's 50 key independent grocery retailers, will be present and ready to celebrate and do business.

Be sure to visit us there, sample Natural Pastures Cheese and talk to us in-person about your and your customers' preferences. Find out more ...

North Island College
11th annual Third Course Wine Festival:

Toasting 100^th Anniversary of the Titanic
Friday, March 16^th, 7PM Campbell River

The opulence of the Titanic travel experience is the focal point for Festival ‘passengers’, which includes a live musical trio, door prizes, silent auction, and a complimentary shuttle ride home. Passengers can sample from over 200 wines from BC and abroad, enjoy hors d’oeuvres and take a wine and cheese tasting seminar all featuring Natural Pastures Cheeses. Find out more ...

14th Annual Winter Okanagan Wine Festival

January 14 – 22, 2012 Sun Peaks Resort

Natural Pastures Cheeses will be sampled at several Festival events, including an industry-only teaching seminar.

One of the events open to everyone is:

Friday, January 20 12:00PM
All You Need is Cheese & Wine - The Seminar

Explore and discover how Natural Pastures Cheeses pair well with some of the best Okanagan varietal wines.

Cornucopia – 15th annual celebration of food and wine

November 10th – 13th, 2011 Whistler

2011 event review:

"...wonderful attendance by hundreds of enthusiastic foodies from Whistler and Vancouver. Natural Pastures Comox Brie, Boerenkaas and Cracked Pepper Veredelait were sampled and very much appreciated by all that attended ... events ..." in which Natural Pastures Cheese participated. "It is always a pleasure to ... promote Natural Pastures cheese!"

Paula Bradner
for Dairy Farmers of Canada

Christmas in November

November 4 - 14, 2011 at Fairmont Jasper Park Lodge

Featuring national award-winning Natural Pastures Amsterdammer, and Boerenkaas.

10th Annual Wine Fest 2011

Saturday, November 5th at Crown Isle Resort, Courtenay
Doors open at 6pm

Popular, 10th annual Wine Fest with over 60 varietals of wine to sample with in-house cuisine featuring Natural Pastures Cheeses. With live music, this event promises to be even better than previous! Supporting the SPCA, this sell out event has only 250 tickets. Early bird tickets available. Call Sarah at 250-703-5000 or visit Crown Isle Resort for more info and tickets.

4th Annual Canadian Cheese Rolling Festival

July 23 in Whistler, B.C.: Natural Pastures Cheeses are selected through vigorous testing to be the Championship wheels of cheese for the races, all on a grassy steep race course on mountain. Between adult races, kids race uphill on the course, or cheese bowl the obstacle course or play cheesey twister. Come also to taste delicious cheeses or win a luxury get-away. Yes the organizers, Dairy Farmers of Canada, also purchased Natural Pastures Cheeses as the grand prizes to be awarded to race winners since the beginning. Come and taste a variety of the pure, luscious cheeses, and meet Edgar Smith, Vice-President and Mary Ann Hyndman Smith. Read more

The Spring Okanagan Wine Festival

May 2011

"...The cheeses from Natural Pastures were VERY well received by event attendees. So many people asking about your cheese and your company! As I have said before, it is such a pleasure to be able to serve Natural Pastures cheese, and really nice to be able to promote a Vancouver Island company.

Best regards,

Paula Bradner
Dairy Farmers of Canada, Western Canada
May 9, 2011

Photograph by: Brian Ceci

Darren Browne, Executive Chef at ORU

"I met Edgar Smith probably about 5 years ago, and he was an interesting guy from the first minute.

"I think one of the first things we ever talked about, (other than the fact that he was the only guy in Canada, at the time, making his own local buffalo mozzarella- which is a pretty good opener all on it’s own), was that he ...Read more, photos"

Natural Pastures Smoked Boerenkaas Wins At 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix

Courtenay B.C. April 25, 2011

Smoked Boerenkaas, one of Natural Pastures Cheese Companys three finalist cheeses, was announced as winner in its category of “Flavoured Cheese with Added Non-Particulate flavouring” at the Gala awards ceremony for the 2011 Canadian Cheese Grand Prix held in Toronto April 20th. This premier cheese competition presented by Dairy Farmers of Canada is held every two years and showcases the excellence of Canadian cheese ...

More Info

Photograph by: Debra Brash, Times Colonist

Cheese with a difference – Mozzarella is made in Courtenay from the milk of water buffaloes

By Eric Akis, Times Colonist June 9, 2010

Enjoy a little taste of Italy without leaving the country, try some Vancouver Island-made mozzarella di bufala, a cheese whose production is a result of unbelievable perseverance and co-operation. Read more…

Comox Brie earns another World Award!

October 2009

Comox Brie earns Silver at the 2009 World Cheese Awards competition, run by the UK’s Guild of Fine Food for 21 years. Staged this year in Las Palmas, Gran Canaria on October 1, it attracted cheeses from 34 different countries.

Over 150 judges from 24 countries, including Mexico, South Africa, Japan and Australia, sampled the 2,440 entries. Guild of Fine Food national director Bob Farrand said: “This was the most international team of judges ever assembled, ... It’s the largest and most cosmopolitan cheese awards on the planet.”

This year’s awards formed part of a wider global event organized by the Guild of Fine Food, including an international cheese conference and the World Cheese Festival which attracted over 15000 consumers to the two-day festival, all eager to taste the winning cheeses.

More about the World Cheese Awards from The Guild of Fine Food.

Natural Pastures Cheeses are Champions Again!

October 6, 2009

COURTENAY, B.C. Natural Pastures Cheeses are new Champions of the Pacific National Exhibition (PNE) cheese competition, confirming the delicious premier qualities of their world-class artisan cheeses. Earning top awards in each category entered, Natural Pastures was also judged “Overall Champion Cheese” by the panel of experts.

Comox Brie ranked the highest in PNE’s 2009 competition of soft ripened artisan cheeses, affirming Natural Pastures pinnacle World Championship Gold Medal awarded by the expert panel of 22 international judges of the 27th biennial World Cheese Contest (WCC). More Info

The sweet heat of wasabi gives this B.C. hybrid a polite kick

Globe and Mail, November 19, 2008

...Award-winning hybrid of cheddar, Dutch gouda and Swiss raclette. Adding the sweet and piquant flavour of locally grown wasabi to this cheese gives every bite an extra kick. But in true Canadian style, the fire is kept politely in check.

Verdelait ...is a new style of cheese created ... at Natural Pastures Cheese.

Edgar Smith, president of Natural Pastures, considers wasabi a delicacy... requires very specific growing conditions. The Smith family started growing it in the forests on their farm (Beaver Meadow Farms in the Comox Valley) about 15 years ago, discovering that wasabi loves the West Coast climate and wet soils. "Wasabi has a little bit of heat to it and it has a sweetness," Mr. Smith says. "It combines exceptionally well with West Coast seafood, smoked salmon and oysters in the half shell." Read more…

Natural Pastures featured on CTV News “Taste of Home” with Tamara Taggart

Watch Tamara’s visit to our cheese plant as our head cheesemaker Paul Sutter demonstrates how we make our delicious Mozzarella di Bufala.

• Story and video
• Photo gallery

Natural Pastures first on the Island to produce a world champion cheese.

Comox Valley Echo – Tuesday, April 1, 2008

The best brie in the world is produced right here in the Comox Valley. “We start with good milk from the Valley and then we really just put a lot of effort into making a nice, beautiful cheese.” Photos and read more.

Natural Pastures earns international acclaim

Business Vancouver Island, April 2008 issue. Read more.

Natural Pastures Cheeses are World Championship Gold and Silver Medallists!

COURTENAY, BC – April 1, 2008

Natural Pastures Cheese Comox Brie recently earned the pinnacle World Championship Gold Medal, in the 27th biennial Contest (WCC). As the first World Championship cheese ever produced from Vancouver Island and first WCC gold medal Brie ever from western Canada, Natural Pastures Cheese Company’s reputation as a premier Canadian cheese producer is strengthened. Read more.

Natural Pastures wins Ten New National Awards!

COURTENAY, BC – December 14, 2007

Expert judges recently conferred ten new national awards to Natural Pastures Cheeses from the Comox Valley, including a coveted win at the British Empire Cheese Competition hosted by the Central Ontario Cheesemaker Association. Natural Pastures Mozzarella di Bufala is the third place winner of the Class 12 category, Pasta Filata Type of the 2007 British Empire competition, judged with large, leading cheese companies’ entries. This is a brand new mozzarella for Canada, as it is the only mozzarella made from the only Canadian herd of water buffalo raised at Fairburn Farms in Duncan. Read more.

Island Fresh – Comox Valley food producers receiving national attention

Times Colonist — September 2, 2007

Local ingredients enhance chef Bishop’s visit

Comox Valley Record — August 29, 2007

See the menu from John Bishop’s Book Launch Luncheon on August 22, 2007.

la nouvelle Provence

BC Business magazine, June 2007

Cheese-maker Smith is much more positive about the Provence message. He was one of the first to raise the idea after Eric Akis, the Victoria Times-Colonist newspaper’s food columnist, described the east coast of the Island as “the new Provence.” “I’ve been to Provence,” Smith says. “We have the same pristine and pure soils, the Mediterranean climate and the coastal, salt-laden winds.” Comox also has a unique terroir, the flavour of the soil that comes through in the food, be it milk or grapes. Smith says it is the terroir that has won his cheeses numerous medals. “What we don’t have is the same relationship between the farmers and consumers,” Smith continues. “Few restaurants buy locally. Little of our produce is stocked on store shelves. Processing of our produce isn’t done locally.”

That is about to change, Read more…

Curdling till the buffalo come home

Cinda Chavich
Special to The Globe and Mail
June 13, 2007 at 7:14 AM EDT

DUNCAN, B.C. — The orb of pristine cheese in Paul Sutter's hand is soft and shiny, the picture of youth in the cheese world.

"It's very delicate at this point," says the Courtenay, B.C., cheese maker, cradling the day-old white mozzarella in his palm like an oversized poached egg.

This cheese is like any good ball of fresh Italian bocconcini, but it's the first artisan buffalo-milk mozzarella commercially made in Canada. It's moist on the inside, with the typical striated layers created by stretching the warmed mass of freshly coagulated curds. It's encased in a tight, thin skin, formed when the cheese is pulled and hand-pinched into a neat round ball. Read more…

Comox Valley Tourism’s annual Land of Plenty Award

From Comox Valley Tourism, April 4, 2006

Sponsored by the North Vancouver Island Chef’s Association

The winner of the 2005 Land of Plenty Award has done more to put the Comox Valley on the map in recent years than any of us could have ever imagined. They have won awards the world over for promoting the things that many of us take for granted — amazing air, land and water quality that produces high quality artisan food for the world to enjoy.

This company has also been active in promoting agri-investment, agri-tourism and culinary tourism initiatives in the Comox Valley. Through their actions they have encouraged others to embrace locally produced foods as a way to celebrate our community and support the local economy.

They source as many of their ingredients as possible locally and their products have been featured on cheeseboards at the House of Parliament and Rideau Hall. They represent the kind of innovation and creativity that will continue to put the Comox Valley on the culinary map.

This year’s winner of the new Land of Plenty Award is Natural Pastures Cheese Company.