Nick Haddow founded Bruny Island Cheese Co in 2003.
Nick's obsession with great cheese started 25 years ago when he was given a bucket of fresh goat's milk whilst working as a chef in South Australia's Eden Valley. Since then, Nick has chased cheese around the world before it eventually landed him and his partner Leonie on the stunningly beautiful Bruny Island in southern Tasmania. Nick is highly regarded business innovator and entrepreneur. His business, Bruny Island Cheese Co, has received many accolades including being awarded the Telstra Australian Business of the Year in 2014 – the only Tasmanian business to have achieved this.
Now a passionate Tasmanian, Nick spends much of his time promoting the state and supporting, showcasing and mentoring many other artisan producers and agri-food businesses. His passion for small island living resulted in him being awarded a Churchill Fellowship in 2014 to study the small island economies around the world. Nick is one of the strongest champions for artisan cheese in Australia and is a vocal advocate for raw milk cheese (which, given the smallest opportunity, he is happy to rant on about). More recently, since starting his own certified organic dairy farm, Nick’s passions also run to the challenges facing traditional agriculture around the world.
Nick has a successful media career that includes his role as co-presenter of all six series of Gourmet Farmer, which is screened in Australia and around the world. He has co-authored several books including The Deli Book (published by Murdoch, 2012, and translated into several languages) and Gourmet Farmer Goes Fishing (published by Murdoch, 2015) with his mates Matthew Evans and Ross O’Meara. His most recent book, Milk.Made was published internationally in August 2016 and was awarded a prestigious James Beard Award in 2017. He is currently undertaking research for his new book investigating the environmental, economic and cultural impacts of the industrial dairy industry around the world.
Nick is the Chair of Brand Tasmania, a director on the Board of Wine Tasmania, sits on the selection committee of the Churchill Fellowship in Tasmania and serves on the Premier’s Visitor Economy Advisory Committee (PVEAC).