In 1988, Paolo Facchino, an Italian immigrant, converted his home garage in Mordialloc into a small cheese factory. All the recipes he used for his homemade cheeses were his own, developed using cooking techniques his mother taught him. His mother’s name was Lucia, which he incorporated into the brand name, ‘Mamma Lucia Cheese’.

As one of the very first Australian manufacturers of fresh, high quality Mediterranean style cheeses, such as bocconcini, mascarpone, ricotta, mozzarella, feta and haloumi, Paolo found that demand for the cheeses quickly increased as he sold them through local shops and delicatessens, as his variety of products weren’t widely available in Australia at that time.

Ten years later the Fresh Cheese Company was formed, when in July 1998, Mamma Lucia Cheese merged with its main competitor, Puglia Cheese.

From very humble beginnings, the business has evolved from a suburban cottage start up into a major player in the specialty cheese industry. Initially the business was a two-man operation, processing 250 litres of milk per day. Today the Fresh Cheese Company employs approximately 90 staff and processes nearly 70,000 litres of milk per day, over 18 million litres annually.

Throughout its 20 year history, the company’s passionate and dedicated staff have always prided themselves on creating the highest quality product possible, using the finest ingredients and providing excellent, dependable service.

Jaycroix Cheese is a division of the Fresh Cheese Company. Located on Sydney’s northern beaches, Jaycroix Cheese was purchased and amalgamated in 2004.

Jaycroix Cheese manufactures a large selection of fruit and savoury flavoured cream cheese products under the Jaycroix Cheese, Apollo Cheese and Mamma Lucia Cheese brands. These products have proven to be very popular, not only in the domestic Australian market, but also throughout north and south Asia, Oceania, the sub continent and the Middle East.

Today, the Fresh Cheese Company is a renowned multi-award winning manufacturer of traditional Mediterranean style cheeses, commodity cheeses, natural set yoghurt, flavoured thickened yoghurt and cream cheese products, produced under the Mamma Lucia Cheese, Puglia Cheese, Jaycroix Cheese, Apollo Cheese and The Provincial Dairy brands. Our products are supplied to restaurants, deli’s, hotels, supermarkets, airlines, cruise ships, and other food manufacturers, both domestically and in nearly 30 countries around the world.