It seems straightforward: a great business starts with a great business idea.Tony and Olga Dutra certainly had one, and the company they started in a garage in Grand Valley, Ont., is now North America’s largest goat cheese maker.Oddly enough, however, their success stemmed directly from their ability to doubt their great idea. “I don’t box myself in,” says Tony Dutra, chief executive officer of Woolwich Dairy in Orangeville, Ont. His wife is president.”When I sample a competitor’s product, I keep an open mind. I don’t judge something instantly, form an opinion blindly and say, ‘this cheese isn’t as good as ours.’ “Aren’t business owners supposed be enthusiastic and totally committed to their great ideas?Well yes, they are; and the Dutras were. Tony was just 20 years old on that day in 1986 when he arrived home from his factory job to find Olga and his mother, Adozinda, waiting for him on the front step with huge smiles on their faces.”My first thought was, ‘oh my God, I’m in some kind of trouble here,'” he recalled. “Then they said, ‘we’ve got this great idea. We’re going to make goat cheese.’ “Adozinda already was. She had mastered the art while growing up in Portugal and kept making it in Canada for herself, friends and family. As well, all three believed the goat cheese then available in ethnic food stores was second-rate.”In most places, they sold it in these little sandwich baggies with the cheese flopping around inside,” Dutra said.”It was messy and unappealing. Sometimes the cheese would be good but the next time it would be awful.”Then the Dutras had a second great idea: instead of rushing into production, they’d try to prove that their first idea wasn’t so great after all. They spent the next four months visiting hundreds of stores in southern Ontario to buy and taste goat cheese. “Part of me wanted to believe my competitors’ product was horrible,” Dutra said.”The only way that I could think of to get rid of that bias was to eat my competitors’ product day in and day out. I tried to think like a consumer, not a competitor.”The four-month test phase, which really has never ended, paid off big time. They came up with the idea of a resealable tub to eliminate the ick factor. Having seen how inconsistent competing cheeses were, they became fanatical about consistency. And having spoken to hundreds of food managers, the couple compiled a lengthy list of do’s and don’ts for deliveries, invoices, case sizes and all those things that consumers never think of but are crucial to store managers.Those factors saw the company, initially named Nova Cheese, grow rapidly right from the start. It bought long-established Woolwich three years later and sales took off.The biggest challenge wasn’t sales but production. Most goat milk producers were seasonal breeders who dried their goats off every winter. Monthly milk deliveries would soar in spring and drop 70 percent by fall. Much of the milk coming in the spring was low in fat and protein.Something had to be done.So the Dutras changed the mantra “think like a consumer” to “think like a farmer.” They met all 70 of their producers in small groups and listened in detail to their concerns about year-round production, especially higher costs for feed, better facilities and quality breeding stock. A plan eventually emerged that would see producers earn about 15 percent more if they increased fat and protein levels and delivered year-round. Once again, the ability to put themselves in the other person’s shoes paid big dividends. Today, Dutra can think back to those big smiles on the face of his wife and mother and know they were right. It was a great idea. But his advice is simple: let your brilliant idea dazzle others, not yourself.
Read Also
High prices see cow-calf producers rushing to incorporate
Farm accountants are reporting a steady stream of cow-calf producers rushing to get their operations incorporated ahead of selling their calves this fall.
