The Rural Municipality of Hanover

Original series brought to you by Bothwell Cheese theCheeseChannel.ca WELCOME TO All Cheese Content. All the Time. An entry into a global competition that started as a test run to see how Bothwell Cheese products would fare against top-level international compet- itors resulted in a silver medal for the company’s Habanero cheese. The World Championship Cheese Competition, which took place in Madison, Wisconsin from March 6-8, 2018, pitted some of the best cheese- makers from around the world against each oth- er. A total of 26 nations were represented with awards handed out in 121 categories. “To compete with the best cheese produc- ers in the world and be recognized is such an incredible honour and a true testament to our team’s dedication to producing quality cheese,” says Nathan Dueck, Production Man- ager, Bothwell Cheese. The company also stood up well in the highly com- petitive Cheddar categories where they beat out hundreds of entries, placing 5 th with their Medium White Cheddar and 7 th with their Medium Orange, MildWhite and SharpWhite Cheddars. “We really feel that it’s our all-natural ingredients, in- cluding 100% Canadian milk, that help set us apart from the competition,” added Dueck. “We’ve always believed that we have some of the best cheese in the world and these contest results help demonstrate that.” Winners were recognized at an awards banquet at the International Cheese Technology Expo in Mil- waukee, Wisconsin on April 19, 2018. BOTHWELL CHEESE STACKS UP AGAINST WORLD’S BEST Company Lands Silver Medal in Global Competition THE RURAL MUNICIPALITY OF HANOVER tion created the need for agriculture related services like feed mills, hatcheries, transportation, farm im- plements, and other agriculture services that make up the economic base of Hanover today. “We have three large companies in our munic- ipality,which are direct agricultural spinoffs from the local production,”explains Chief Administrative Officer, Luc Lahaie.“We have Granny’s Poultry,which is a turkey and chicken processing plant in the community of Blumenort; in NewBothwell,we have Bothwell Cheese,which is a cheese factory that supplies cheese for most of western Canada; and in Grunthal,we have Parmalat,which is a large dairy that also processes cheese.” While providing for a vibrant local economy, Lahaie admits,“These industries create challenges when it comes to wastewater. So, in the last five to ten years,we had massive expansions of wastewa- ter lagoons to accommodate their effluent from the processing of cheese or poultry into a final product.” Lately,Hanover has seen an upward shift in its population growth, a somewhat unique situation in today’s Manitoba, but the result of the need for workers in the RM’s growing livestock processing sector.Most of the new residents in this municipal- ity of 16,000 have come from Germany and Russia. “They bring a different flavor to our area,which has a predominantlyMennonite culture–the immigra- tion here 125-140 years ago,” says Lahaie.“But they still have a very religious culture, and that’s why they were brought over–because of their strong faith- based way of life.” According to Lahaie, the new immigrants mostly preferred to live in the rural parts of Hanover.“The