The Armadale story begins when Hetty’s parents, Jozef and Regina Duivenvoorden), decided to immigrate to Canada in 1986. Farming was becoming increasingly difficult in The Netherlands, with not enough land available to farm optimally and no possibility for the couple’s four children to take over the farm in the future. They already had family situated in Canada, so they took a vacation to visit and found the beautiful farm that we call home. After the family was moved and settled, it soon became apparent that authentic Dutch cheese was not common in the area.
Luckily Jozef is a 5th generation cheese maker. A used cheese vat was procured and the cheesemaking was officially begun! The operation was set up in the basement of the farmhouse. Milk was brought up from the barn in buckets until the vat was filled. Once the cheese was aged enough the family once again had the staple food to go with breakfast and lunches. It wasn’t long before other families caught wind of the cheesemaking operation, especially European families that had been searching for authentic Dutch cheese. Soon, customers were coming to the door and purchasing cheese. A business was born and the basement quickly became too small.
In 1990, an extension was built onto the barn for a production facility. In addition to Gouda cheese, Jozef and Regina started making more varieties of Gouda, as well as Cheddar, Edam, Feta and Havarti. Since Regina had a background in making dairy products such as yogurt and Quark, they started making those products as well. Fast forward to 2005 when Joop and Regina were ready to retire. Their son, Hubert, took over the farm and their daughter, Hetty, and her husband, Ian, took over the dairy products plant. A partnership was formed, and we are thankful to be able to carry on the family business to still be successful today. That’s over 30 years in the making!
Hetty and Ian have continued the tradition, not only that of cheesemaking but also maintaining top quality products and freshness that customers have come to expect and appreciate all these years.
