Processed ‘plastic’ cheese used to be all that was available for most Sri Lankans, because imported cheeses are expensive and the varieties limited.

Enter Maia Donadze, the Georgian national who has been making a name for herself as a cheesemaker in Sri Lanka.

Initially, Maia faced the issue of finding reliable milk suppliers, but she says that now, after almost seven years, she has her go-to producers in the area.

Says Maia: “I sleep, I dream, I live for my cheese. Cheese is like a live product, and every three or six months you need to mature it so, you look after it every day.”

Starting small in a two-room house in Madipola, Maia Cheese factory now produces around three tonnes of cheese a month, including Cheddar, Halloumi, Gouda, Brie, Bocconcini, cream cheese, blue cheese, Mozzarella, Parmigiano and Parmesan.

Her specialities are the Maiagiano, which is a Parmigiano, and the Queen Blue, a blue cheese. She also produces more unique examples, such chocolate cheese, and one suitable for vegans—coconut cheese.

As well as cheese, she also produces three varieties of cultured butter and apple-cider vinegar.