Prom Country Cheese churns out sustainable produce

August 2021

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Prom Country Cheese’s sustainable business philosophy has been helping the husband-and-wife team produce award-winning cheeses since 2014. Situated in the picturesque Moyarra Valley in South Gippsland, Victoria, Prom Country Cheese has adopted several energy efficiency and sustainability practices to cut costs and reduce their environmental impact.

Recognising that they were dealing with large energy bills, Prom Country Cheese utilised a grant from Sustainability Victoria to engage an auditor to assess the farm and cheesery’s energy use and identify opportunities to improve efficiency. Following the audit’s recommendations, the farm introduced additional rooftop solar, an efficient boiler and electric hot water services to store excess solar power.

The business had already installed solar PV, but supplemented these north facing panels with east and west facing arrays, thereby capturing the maximum solar benefit from morning to evening. The increase in Prom Country Cheese’s energy generation enables the farm to generate the majority of its daytime electricity use, further reducing peak power consumption by half and saving upwards of $6,000 each year.

“Every decision we make as a business considers sustainability and efficiency.”