Collaboration between award-winning cheesery Whitestone Cheese and Otago Polytechnic’s EduBits has resulted in the Affineur Academy. Graduating from the Whitestone Cheese Co. Affineur Academy grants students extensive knowledge on cheese, including cheese-related history, natural processes, facts, flavour matchings, handling techniques and ideas, and exclusive access to a video tutorial by New Zealand’s very own Josh Emett on how to design the perfect cheese board.
The Affineur Academy provides enthusiasts and hospitality workers the perfect chance to upskill their cheese-based knowledge.
Staff at New World’s Long Bay supermarket were the first people to go through the program, and co-owner of the store, Marcus Te Brake, said, “There is value in my deli staff being able to converse with customers on the subject of cheese. It presents upselling opportunities.”
“It has also resulted in an increase in general engagement from the respective team members. They are definitely more confident.”
Whitestone Cheese’s managing director Simon Berry was originally the one to spot the gap of knowledge in the market, taking the idea to Otago Polytechnic cookery senior lecturer Chris Smith.
Smith said, “In short, it’s about getting the people who handle cheese—for example, deli staff or chefs—to know more about the product and what to match it with, and to relay that knowledge to the customer.”
Andy Kilsby from Edubits awards Eleanor McKibbon and Maia Wood of New World Long Bay with their Whitestone Cheese Co. Affineur Academy qualification.
