A reader asks...about Leoni-Grana cheese in Alberta

We recently got an email from an Edible Prairie Journal subscriber that might be of interest to everyone. The reader was looking for Leoni-Grana cheese, a wonderful Grana (Parmesan) cheese that was made until recently in Camrose (AB).

We're posting our response:

Sorry about the delay, but we have bad news! Leoni Grana is no longer being produced. She shut down her operation about a year ago. We're not sure what the reason was but it seems that she has moved out to BC.

It seems to be the way these days, specialty producers come and go. Some like Whiskey Creek Tomatoes (we wrote about them just two issues ago -- No. 8) say that consumers are still buying on price, not on taste and quality, and smaller niche producers just can't compete with the bulk import prices. Others just burn out with the fact that they have to be producers, sales people, marketers, accountants and several other jobs all rolled into a 24-hour day.

Another reason to go a bit out of our way to support good quality local products...because if we don't, they'll be gone next time we look.