the company

The story of Colchis Ltd began in 1996, when Marina Kandelaki--the chief cheesemaker and the brain behind the company--moved with her family from Tbilisi, Georgia to Auckland, New Zealand. Although we quickly fell in love with New Zealand, we could not deny that there was something missing here: There was no Sulguni, and a void which no cheddar or camembert could fill!

And so, several years later, Marina decided to take it upon herself to right this wrong. After all, if there were people in Georgia making Sulguni in their kitchens at home, why could she not do the same in New Zealand? With a degree in Food Science from the University of Auckland and the mouth-watering memory of fresh Sulguni, there was no reason why she could not make the cheese in her own kitchen.

After months of experiments, trials, tribulations and her kids referring to her as the mad scientist, Marina got it right. At last there sat in her kitchen a round of fresh, delicious, authentic Georgian Sulguni. The family began to rave, and soon enough the word spread throughout the community of Georgians and Russians living in Auckland that Marina was making cheese the like of which nobody had tasted in New Zealand. Following the demands, there came more homemade Sulguni, and then the idea that perhaps the rest of New Zealand might like to get in on the action. She had a spare room, as it happened, so why not set up a mini-factory?

It took more than two years of painstaking work to get the factory approved and running. We would like to thank Cameron Russell, food processing engineer and our consultant, for making it possible. By early 2008, the factory was complete, the paperwork was done, and the company was given the name of Colchis, after the ancient name of Georgia, perhaps familiar to some from the legend of Jason and the Argonauts. With the old legend in mind, our logo became the golden ram. (In hindsight, we probably should have thought that through a little better because, seeing it, people ask us if the cheese is made from goat's milk!) Finally, after having everything approved by NZFSA, we were ready to go.

Our Sulguni was debuted at the Alexandra Park Farmers Market on the 28th of September 2008, and special thanks are due to Auntie Inga (who you might see at our stalls at farmers markets around Auckland) for her support and hard work. Speaking of Inga, we have also began to manufacture another cheese which we named after her - Inguli, which is quickly becoming a hit. Both cheeses won an award at the Cuisine Cheese Awards '09 - Sulguni recieved gold, and Inguli a bronze medal. Now we are constantly in talks with various gourmet stores and restaurants who want to stock our cheese, and though we are still taking baby steps, we hope to eventually make Sulguni a household name in New Zealand. Mind you, we do not plan to stop there. Sulguni is, after all, only one type of Georgian cheese among many!