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.
