PICTON — Fifth Town Artisan Cheese Company was awarded the Ontario Premier’s Award of $100,000 for its use of green technology in its new and innovative cheese factory.

Earlier, Fifth Town became the first industrial plant in Canada to receive the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platimum Certificate. LEED is an international green building council.

Among other things, the state-of-the-art green plant and retail outlet has a cave for naturally aging cheese, a ground heat pump for heating the building, and heating and cooling water. Waste water flows into a specially constructed wetland.

The plant is on the electrical grid, but saves about 10 per cent on its electrical bill with a wind turbine and photovoltaic panels.

The factory, which turns goat and sheep milk into cheese, processes 3,000 litres of milk per week and is operating at about 35 per cent capacity. President Petra Cooper told Farmers Forum that since July of last year the plant processed 200,000 litres of milk. The plant is finishing its first year of operation.

There’s plenty of supply, she says. The holdup is marketing.

Fifth Town buys goat and sheep milk from producers within a half hour drive from the factory. The company isn’t looking for any more suppliers, she said. "As we expand some of our suppliers will expand with us."

The company offers 26 types of cheeses made from goat or cheese milk or a combination of both. About 15 per cent of the cheese is from sheep. The cheese isn’t organic but the company certifies that the cheese is produced locally and the milk from local farms.

The cheese is marketed mostly in cities, Kingston and Ottawa east of Toronto, and the factory site.

On-site, it offers a plant tour along with cheese tasting. Cooper calls it "culinary education."

Fifth Town is on the winery tours of Prince Edward County.