Business could be running as usual at Ripley’s Pine River Cheese plant by this spring.
The plant was heavily damaged by an early morning fire September 7th of last year.
Plant Manager Bill Rutledge says his best guess is that things will be ready to go by April.
The fire gutted the entire insides of the plant, so everything inside, plus the roof has to be replaced.
At this point, Rutledge says the walls and ceiling are all up in the cold warehouse, and similar work is beginning in the processing area.
Rutledge says they’re taking in as many orders as possible, as they are still able to cut and package the majority of their cheeses.
There are a couple of facilities making cheese for Pine River right now.
He says within the next couple of weeks they should be able to start working out of the cold warehouses again as well.
Twenty-seven employees has been retained through the reconstruction. Normally at this time, the company would have about 40 workers.
Rutledge admits it has hurt business, as many customers who rely on cheese are looking elsewhere for supply.
But he’s hopeful once everything is back on track, they can win back some customers.
Rutledge would not comment on how much will be spent on the reconstruction.
They will get some help in the marketing department though.
OMAFRA has given Pine River just over 54 thousand dollars in grant money from the Ontario Marketing Investment Fund.
General Manager Vi Jay Kumar says this funding and their marketing will be one of the key components to rebuilding the brand.
The funding announcement came last Friday, and despite the snow, Kumar says a lot of people attended and were in good spirits.
Kumar says it makes him optimistic about the future of Pine River Cheese.
