We were lucky to catch up with Deeann Lufkin recently and have shared our conversation below.

Deeann, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

We originally wanted to be called “Three Chicks Cheese” but there was a Cheese Chick as part of the American Cheese Society, so our lawyer said we could not use that name. We struggled to find a name that would fit us. We reached out to Deluxe to come up with our logo, and we asked them for help coming up with a name. As a creative exercise, they came up with 7 pages of ideas, after asking us about us.

Our town of Cannon Falls reached out to us a year prior asking us to make them our hometown. After visiting, we realized that this was the perfect place for us, as they are a hub of local foods. We also loved the sense of community. The town was so special to us, that we wanted it reflected in our name. Adding “Cannon” in our name shows the love of our town.

We began as 3 girlfriends, and remain very close to this day. We also wanted the fact that we were women owned reflected in our name. “Belles” reflects this. However, we are not girly girls, so we wanted to make sure our logo did not show us a Sothern Belles, but instead highlighted our passion for Dairy.

Deeann, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

CannonBelles Cheese is a young company established in 2016 by Kathy Hupf, Deeann Lufkin, and Jackie Ohmann. We are a family friendly award-winning artisan cheese company with a passion for dairy and bringing wonderful flavors to your family table. We started out in our kitchens in 2014, making cheese for fun and it was so delicious that we felt we had to share the cheesy goodness!

It starts with the cows: We take great pride in producing high quality products, using locally sourced ingredients including milk from a local dairy farm family, Square Deal Dairy from Randolph, MN. The Ottes are a fifth generation farming family who take tremendous care of their cows each day, giving attention to every detail, which produces superior quality milk, and in turn makes amazing cheese! Likewise, we take the utmost care in handling our cheese to ensure a safe, flavorful product. We also love sharing our passion for locally made foods and the importance of agriculture in our communities by being involved with Minnesota Grown, American Cheese Society, and other local food groups.

We began making cheese at the University of Minnesota through their Pilot Cheesemaker’s program from which
we gained a great deal of experience and knowledge and now enjoy making cheese in our new production facility in Cannon Falls, MN.

We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.

We started making cheese as a hobby over 12 years ago. We were making great cheese and realized we could make this a career. All 3 of us were looking for career changes, so this seemed perfect. However, none of us had a business background.

We hired a cheese business consultant to help us set things up for success. He slowed us down and made us do our homework. We set up our LLC and put down the framework for what is now CannonBelles Cheese with his help. He also suggested we join the American Cheese Society and attend their conferences. It is through that organization that we met industry experts and were able to see many types of equipment.

Our next step was finding a home. We realized building on the farm was not an option. Without the farm as collateral, we were also in need of significant financing (almost $1 million). We searched for existing structures that would work for us, but could never find a fit. The dairy regulations are so strict that any existing site would require significant and costly renovations. After 5 years of searching we finally settled on builidng our own plant in the industrial park, with the help of an investor who built the building for us.

Then, COVID hit. Construction was slowed down and took over 2 years to complete the structure. We also had a very difficult time finding equipment supplies, as the majority of it is stainless steel.

After 7 years of hard work, we finally opened our own plant in Cannon Falls, MN.

Can you talk to us about how your funded your business?

Funding for us was tricky. Most cheeseplants build on the farm and can use it for collateral. That wasn’t an option for us. We had also heard from many cheesemakers that finding the right bank was key, as many see food as a volitle industry (like a restaurant) and are cautionus when lending money. We “dated” our bankers. We visited over a dozen local and large banks in our area to find the best fit, which came in the form of First Farmers and Merchants Bank in Cannon Falls. The President, Luke Cooreman, spent countless hours with us, guiding us through the process and giving us guidance.

We also worked with the Southern MN Intiative Foundation (SMIF) in Owatonna, to help guide us through the process and help us find industry experts to coach us.

We applied for the MN Department of Agriculture’s Added Grant, and won enough money to help offset the high cost of our equipment. We also got a zero interest loan through the MN Veteran’s Loan Program, which helped pay for our rental at the University of Minnesota, to make our cheese.

Final funding for our plant came in the form of:
– bulding and land : an investor paid for these, and we are now renting our facility with the agreement to purchase in a few years.
– Equpment:
— First Farmers and Merchants Bank Loan
— SMIF Loan
— SBA Loan

The SBA Loan had a very low interest rate when we first applied and were approved 2 years ago. However, after the plant was built, we were told they wouldn’t close the loan out until we had positive cash flow. That was taking long, so working with our banker, we just converted that loan to a conventional bank loan.

We have also recieved a Dairy Business Innovation Alliance (DBIA) Grant, which allowed us to buy more equipment and supplies.

Contact Info:

• Website: cannonbelles.com
• Instagram: @cannonbelles
• Facebook: @cannonbelles
• Linkedin: @cannonbelles
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCygso7OuCE8HYZd9zdeVB6Q
• Other: We are also on Pinterest: @cannonbelles

Image Credits
Tiffany Alexandria, Choochoo-ca-chew