We're Hiring: Join the Schulz Creamery and Cafe Team!

Front of House Manager

Full Time

$60-65k Full Time

Are you a lover of food and the story behind the food? Are you passionate about exceptional customer experiences? Imagine filling your day with both amongst the country gardens of Schulz Organic Creamery and Café. You’ll be part of a genuinely caring team helping them and the café to thrive.

Schulz Organic Creamery and Café is the home of Schulz Organic Dairy, a premium brand offering organic dairy with a true grass-to-glass philosophy. The Schulz family has been farming organically and biodynamically for over 50 years and the café is steeped in beautiful history. Demand for the Schulz dairy range has never been higher and here at the café, we are offering a unique experience to our customers in helping them understand exactly where these award-winning products are created and how they are turned into tantalising and indulgent baked goods. Led by our head chef Hila Perry, we offer a seasonal menu celebrating the region and fellow Great Ocean Road producers.

Help us share this beautiful space with our customers from near and far. The next chapter of the café sees us expanding our farm tours, events, functions and collaborative opportunities. Under the guidance of Hila and your leadership team you will have a strong and capable crew to help take this business to the next level.

Ready to join the team and expand your career?

Some things that will keep your day full:

• Providing high-level assistance to our head chef

• Friendly and genuine customer service

• Food and beverage service

• Managing stock rotations and ordering retail products and merchandise

• Co-ordinate functions, events and tours

• Ensure a high standard of cleanliness in café

• Handle payments and balance accounts

• Manage roster in conjunction with chef

• Train new staff

• Manage bookings and walk-ins

• Business administration support including emails, answering phone calls, liaising with suppliers, liaising with internal management and accounts

• Assistance in marketing strategy

• Directing staff and managing breaks and shifts

Some skills and attributes we’d like you hold:

• Ability to communicate clearly and effectively with team

• Friendly, approachable and genuine

• Organised and adaptable

• Flexibility in roster, including some weekend work

• Food and beverage experience an advantage

• Marketing/social media/promotions experience an advantage

• RSA an advantage

Please send your CV to contact@schulzorganiccreamery.com.au.

Better with Fetta: Our Favourite Ways to Use This Versatile Cheese

When we first developed our Organic Fetta, getting the consistency just right was one of our top priorities (aside from great flavour, of course)!

We did tonnes of product testing to ensure it is perfectly soft, smooth and creamy, and never crumbly or rubbery – but still holds its form. This means it’s great for baking and cooking, as it retains its shape and consistency without losing its delicious flavour. Make sure you keep it submerged under brine in the tub to ensure it stays as fresh as possible!

But fetta isn’t just about great taste – it’s also a rich source of calcium, iron and folate which can help to build and maintain strong bones. It’s also packed with protein to help keep you fuller for longer, and (like many other dairy products), may also support gut health, thanks to the presence of beneficial bacteria and probiotic yeasts.

How do we make fetta?

Schulz Organic Fetta is handmade at our Timboon Creamery from our gently pasteurised, certified organic full cream cow’s milk – direct from our happy cows on the farm! We then add lactic acid and cultures to trigger fermentation; these cultures are what give our Fetta its signature tang.

Next, the milk is treated with non-animal rennet enzymes (making our Organic Fetta vegetarian friendly!) which coagulates the milk, binding the proteins and creating a jelly-like cheese. We then cut the set curd to release the bound-up moisture (the whey), gradually stirring to release more whey. Once enough whey has been released, the curd heads into special moulds and press (under its own weight), to squeeze out more whey for 24 hours.

We then add salt and set aside the blocks to age and allow the flavours to intensify for a few days.

From there, the fetta blocks are ready to be sliced into smaller cubes, and head either for our salty brine or spice-infused oil (available exclusively at our Creamery & Cafe).

Let’s eat.

From pizza and pasta to potatoes and peaches, fetta is an incredibly versatile ingredient. We use our Organic Fetta in the Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe on our popular cheeseboards, as well as in Chef Hila’s much-loved Spinach and Fetta Triangles and our Veggo Toastie, with roasted vegetables and olive tapenade.

We’re always excited to see how our stockists and supporters create delicious meals with Schulz Organic Fetta too. The team at Rose St Pantry use it in their delicious three cheese spanakopita, and this fetta-forward creation from @marigoldandsol also features our organic Quark! 

Read on to discover some of our favourite fetta dishes – plus tips to use up any leftovers, including the tangy fetta brine!

Julia Busuttil Nishimura’s Spinach and Fetta Tart

Julia Busuttil Nishimura shares her recipe for simple, flaky and delicious homemade pastry in this rich Spinach and Fetta Tart, which also uses Schulz Organic Dairy Pure Cream in the filling. Tip: the guanciale can be omitted to make this tart vegetarian.

View the recipe here.

Hila’s Spinach and Fetta Triangles

Buttery, flaky pastry with gooey cheese filling — what could be better? Our Creamery and Cafe pastry chef, Hila Perry shares her recipe for Spinach and Fetta Triangles using both our organic Fetta and Quark.

View the recipe here.

Extra options we love:

• Fetta and watermelon salad is a timeless Mediterranean side dish, but did you know this cheese is wonderful paired with strawberries and stone fruits, such as nectarines and peaches? The sweetness of the fruit is perfectly complemented by the fetta’s saltiness.

• Whipped fetta is a fantastic option for your next dinner party, served with toasted bread, crudites or even lamb skewers!

• Fetta ice cream is even on the table too – a slightly sweet treat that makes an interesting start to the meal as well as finishing it!

Leftovers?

If you happen to have a little fetta left over from creating some mouthwatering dishes, don’t waste it! Sprinkle over fresh smashed avocado on local sourdough, whip up a Greek salad for one or swap parmesan for fetta to top your next bowl of pasta.

And don’t throw out the brine! 

We have found some genius tips to use up your fetta brine, whether you have a small amount or a tubful, so you ensure nothing goes to waste. This slightly creamy, tangy liquid can be used to add extra depth to rice, tray bakes and soups – or basically any dish! If you’re looking to double down, this roast chicken recipe uses both the brine and fetta cheese for a fantastic, moist and seasoned main.

We love seeing the ways that you cook and create with Schulz products at home – so tag us @schulzorganicdairy this next time you’re using Organic Fetta in the kitchen, or comment on this blog post using the box below to share your tips and tricks.

Schulz Farm Tours are here!

Join us at Schulz Organic Dairy for our new farm tour, an exclusive behind-the-scenes experience in stunning Timboon.

On this family-friendly walking tour, you’ll meet our famous happy cows, learn the ins-and-outs of cheese-making in our creamery, and discover our farm’s 50 year history of innovation and organic practices. If you’re lucky, Simon Schulz, our founder and third-generation farmer, will also join the tour to share his unique insights with you!

Our experienced guides will cover many aspects of our farm during the tour, including the history of our creamery. While there, you'll also learn more about the artisanal cheese-making process and how we use organic ingredients in our products.

Next, we’ll make our way to the dairy, where you’ll have the chance to meet our cows and calves. We’ll share more information about our family’s philosophy on regenerative organic farming practices, and what steps we take to prioritize the health and well-being of our animals and the environment.

With all that walking, you’ll certainly have worked up an appetite! After the tour, join us in our Creamery and Cafe and try some of our farm-fresh products, including our award-winning organic milk, cheese and more. Depending on the season, you may also have the chance to experience hands-on farming activities, such as feeding the calves or harvesting produce.

We hope that you leave our farm tour with a deeper appreciation for the importance of organic, regenerative farming practices, the values we cherish at Schulz Organic Dairy and a greater understanding of how our family farm operates. See you there!

Book your Schulz Farm Tour here today.

Wheelchair access and larger groups can be accommodated on this tour – please email our team before you make your booking at: contact@schulzorganiccreamery.com.au.

Please note that the availability of our Farm Tours is subject to change.

Milk in Glass: Four Year Report

This year, we’re celebrating four years of Milk in Glass!

Our Milk in Glass story began all the way back in 2017, when we started offering milk in returnable, refillable glass bottles at Farmers Markets across Victoria. Then next year, we launched our Pozible crowdfunding campaign, with the aim to raise funds for equipment that would allow us to release 3000 glass bottles per week to retailers. Thanks to a groundswell of amazing support, we overshot our target – and Milk in Glass became a reality!

In 2019, we launched into a range of fantastic retailers and since then – with the ongoing support of loyal customers – we’ve saved 35.97 tonnes of plastic through our Milk in Glass efforts!

It is truly amazing to see our Milk in Glass in so many sustainably-minded stores and cafés across Victoria, with many of these locations also adopting our Milk on Tap program. Here, we partnered with legendary Tassie company The Udder Way to deliver instant refills of our Full Cream and Low Fat Milk to customers – and work towards eliminating single use plastics in the dairy industry and beyond.

We also continue to see the commitment of our wonderful customers through sales and returns, and although Covid-19 did see an understandable drop in the rate of returns, we’re happy to say it returned to 85% over the past 12 months. 

And how’s this for a milestone – we’re on track to hit one million bottles sold by the end of this year!

The success of Milk in Glass simply could not have been achieved without all of you: the stockists, original Pozible pledgers, regular bottle filler-uppers and all the team at Schulz Organic Dairy. We appreciate every drop of effort you have put in to help spread the word!

We’re so proud of these results – but we think we can go bigger (and better). 

We’re looking to invest in a number of projects to significantly improve Milk in Glass production, including investing in a reconditioned foil cap to seal our existing bottles (and reduce plastic usage!), an improved semi-automatic bottle and keg washer in partnership with the legends at Rhima, and to make some modifications to our glass bottle design to increase its lifecycle! 

If you’d be interested in learning more about how you can help us reach our goals to further reduce waste in the dairy industry, click here and enter your details.

Five Ways with Quark

Popular in Europe for centuries, Quark is somewhat of an undiscovered gem in Australia.

A German-style fresh cheese, this mildly tart cheese is often compared to mascarpone – but with a refreshing tang thanks to the same ABC cultures used to ferment yogurt.

We’ve been making Organic Quark at Schulz for over 35 years, and still use Hermann Schulz’s traditional recipe to this day!

Firstly, we take our non-homogenised Certified Organic Full Cream Milk and make fresh cheese, before adding ABC cultures and microbial rennet, then allowing the cheese to ferment the same way our Yogurt does. This fermentation process also means that Schulz Organic Quark is naturally high in protein and fantastic for gut health – plus, it’s higher in calcium than cream cheese, lower in sugar than regular yogurts and lower in fat than many other dairy products.

This makes it a lighter option to substitute for crème fraîche, sour cream, cottage cheese and even thick yogurt when cooking – plus we like it straight out of the tub too!

Scroll on for some of our favourite ways to use Schulz Organic Quark from morning to night.

BREAKFAST

Spread thickly on sourdough, dolloped on top of fresh fruit or incorporated into fluffy pancakes, Organic Quark is a versatile and healthy addition to any breakfast table.

It’s also one of Simon Schulz’s favourites: “I was brought up on an inch thick layer of my granddad Hermann’s Quark on homemade dark rye toast,” Simon says. We can’t think of anything better!

Try our Herbie Organic Quark (with added dill, garlic, capsicum and chilli) slathered on a bagel and topped with smoked salmon and greens for a gourmet take on weekend brunch!

LUNCH AND DINNER

To incorporate Quark into your entertaining repertoire, look no further than this Caramelised Onion, Tomato and Rocket Tart, shared by Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Ostro).

“The quark in the filling gives the tart a welcome zing,” says Julia. “And cuts through the richness of the eggs and cream.”

Caramelised Onion, Rocket and Tomato Tart.

Equally delicious warm from the oven or snuck slice-by-slice from the fridge later on, we also love the versatility of this tart. Here Julia has used fresh cherry tomatoes, but we’re already dreaming up a spring version for later in the year, adding fresh seasonal vegetables like asparagus and peas.

For a satisfying light lunch, try your hand at this Yoghurt Flatbread recipe from Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe head chef Hila, which is served alongside a generous bowl of Herbie Organic Quark.

Easy, versatile flatbreads made using our Natural Greek Yoghurt.

QUARKBOARDS

Quarkboards – a riff on the viral ‘butterboards’ (but better) – have been a new favourite at the Creamery and Cafe!

Our Organic Quark is mild in flavour, so makes an easily customisable base for both sweet and savoury versions of this moreish treat! Try our Sweet Summer Fruit Quarkboard the next time you’re passing through Timboon, or create your own savoury version at home using nuts, olives or whatever produce is in season.

Try our seasonal Quarkboard – a favourite at the Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe – at home.

CAKES AND SWEETS

Quark is used in many traditionally German desserts, but perhaps most famously a light and fluffy cheesecake.

Head chef Hila uses our Organic Quark in her famous cheesecake at the Creamery and Cafe, and Julia Busuttil Nishimura (Ostro) has also shared her recipe for a baked Strawberry Quark Cheesecake, substituting cream cheese with Quark for a light and creamy texture – plus a little twist thanks to the chocolate biscuit base.

Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe head chef Hila Perry slices her famous Quark Cheesecake.

Julia has also generously shared a recipe for her Spiced Carrot Cake with Quark Frosting – but we think this simple icing would work wonderfully atop any cake.

Organic Quark makes a fantastic alternative to cream cheese in the icing for this spiced carrot cake.

LEFTOVERS

Have a little left in the tub? Don’t let it go to waste!

Stir the last of your Quark through a delicious spaghetti primavera, add to iron-rich leafy greens for a lighter, brighter take on classic creamed spinach, or use fresh veggie sticks to scrape the final morsels of Herbie Organic Quark from the container – just like Coralie has below!

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Coralie Sneddon (@coraliesneddon)

We love seeing the ways that you cook and create with Schulz products at home – so tag us at @schulzorganicdairy this next time you’re using Quark in the kitchen, or comment on this post below to share your tips and tricks.

Kindred Spirits – Fleur Studd, Market Lane Coffee

The vision of Market Lane Coffee is to deliver good coffee that is good for everyone – from producers to the planet – says founder and co-owner Fleur Studd. 

From day dot, Fleur and the Market Lane team have been committed to quality, transparency, sustainability and doing good through their business. These are values that easily align with our own at Schulz, and we’re proud to have supplied Market Lane – now a Certified B Corp – with our organic milk since 2009. 

Over a decade later, we use Market Lane Coffee every day at the Schulz Organic Creamery and Cafe. While we can safely say nothing makes a better flat white, Market Lane’s continued dedication to ethical and sustainable sourcing, reducing their environmental impact and building a thriving community is why we admire this Victorian roastery so much.

We sat down with Fleur this month for the latest edition of Kindred Spirits, talking ‘aha moments’, working with like-minded businesses and why building relationships is such an important part of Market Lane’s DNA.

Market Lane Coffee owners Jason, Jenni and Fleur. Image: Abigail Varney

What are some of the most fulfilling aspects of running Market Lane?

Building a business that is purpose-led, and, because we are independent and owner-operated, making decisions that are informed by our values. Not compromising. Striving to use business as a force for good. Creating a workplace that is healthy, supportive and safe, where our team can grow and thrive. Working with dedicated, and quality focused producers (including Schulz!). Serving an awesome and engaged community of customers in each of our shops, and online. Drinking delicious coffee and doing what we love, every single day.

What do you love most about coffee and the coffee industry?

Well firstly, there is nothing better than a carefully harvested, roasted and brewed coffee, that preserves its taste of place and is clean, balanced and delicious.

I remember my first coffee ‘aha moments’, when I started to understand coffee as a differentiated beverage; one that’s flavour is influenced by things like the plant variety, the region it’s grown in and the way it was processed. A great joy of working in coffee is sharing or facilitating ‘aha moments’ that help get people excited about quality, provenance and flavour. We strive to communicate what makes a coffee special, and why we chose to share it, and celebrate the stories of the people who produced it. My favourite moments in the shops is when a customer asks for a specific coffee by name and, if it’s out of season, asks when it might be back. This makes me feel like we’ve done our job well.

Secondly, I love the relationships in specialty coffee. Whether it’s a producer we’ve partnered with for over a decade, a long-time Market Lane barista who goes on to open their own business, a local ceramicist who hand-makes unique coffee cups just for us, or an enthusiastic customer whose kids we’ve seen grow taller behind the counter in our shops – these relationships and our community are so important to us and bring true meaning to what we do. They’re what get us out of bed every morning.

Building lasting relationships at Market Lane’s Faraday St. location. Image: Abigail Varney

Tell us a little bit about your relationship with Simon Schulz and Schulz Organic Dairy.

When we opened Market Lane in 2009, our goal was to serve the highest quality coffee we could. To do this, we needed to ensure we had the very best drink ingredients: great coffee, and great milk. At that time, the quality and provenance of milk wasn’t a particular area of focus for Australian cafés. We wanted to change this, and use the best milk we could find; knowing this would make an enormous difference to the quality of our milk-based drinks.

We did a lot of tasting of different milks and we fell in love with Simon’s milk because it was organic, unhomogenised, sweet and creamy, and it tasted absolutely delicious with our coffee! Back then, Simon’s milk was only available at farmers markets, so we approached him and asked if he would consider supplying our cafés. We were thrilled when he said yes. He then scaled his business to be able to support ours, and now many other retailers and cafés across Victoria. To help our customers understand how special Schulz Organic Milk is, we created postcards explaining where the milk comes from and why it’s unique. We also visited Simon’s farm with our team to learn about how the milk is produced and how the animals are cared for.

It’s been amazing to work with Simon for so long, and to see his business evolve alongside ours. We’re grateful for this relationship, and we’re proud to serve this delicious and ethically produced milk. We have plans underway to install an Udder Way keg dispenser in our new Sydney Rd shop for Schulz Organic Milk, so we can have fresh milk on tap, reduce packaging waste, and give customers the opportunity to refill their own bottles. And we’re thrilled that Schulz Organic is now serving Market Lane coffee in their own café!

Market Lane has become B Corp certified which is a great achievement. Can you tell us what was involved in the certification process and what were your main drivers to seek this certification?

Yes! This was our biggest achievement in 2022, and we’re really proud of it. Becoming a certified B Corporation requires an organisation to look at every single aspect of their operation, with full transparency and accountability, benchmarking every detail against the most ethical, responsible and sustainable businesses in the world.

Since we opened, we’ve endeavoured to make all our decisions in accordance with our vision to deliver good coffee that is good for everyone – our producing partners, our customers, our team and our planet. We always felt and believed that we were doing the right things, but the B Corp certification process gave us a verifiable framework through which to measure our positive impact, and make sure we’re doing everything as ethically and sustainably as possible. 

Market Lane Coffee meets Schulz Organic Dairy Milk. Image: Abigail Varney

Did your relationship or use of Schulz Organic Dairy Milk play a part in the B Corp certification process?

It did! As part of the B Corp certification process, we had to audit supply partners and provide information on their ethical and sustainability practices. The fact that Schulz milk is certified organic contributed very favourably to our assessment, as did the fact that the milk is available in glass bottles (which we use in several of our shops, where storage allows).

What are your favourite Market Lane beans, and how do you have your coffee? 

I drink filter coffee at home. I love it because it’s easy to brew this way, and because filter brew methods really highlight the more delicate and nuanced flavours in a coffee. On weekdays, I grind my coffee fresh using a Fellow Ode grinder, and typically brew using a Moccamaster, which is a fast and convenient method. On the weekend, I like to brew coffee using a pour over cone. I love the pour over method. There’s something quite meditative and special about the ritual of pouring water over coffee and taking the time to do it carefully and consciously. If my kids are happily occupied, I get to drink the coffee carefully and consciously, too! It’s a special way to enjoy it.    

You can visit Market Lane at their roastery or eight locations around Melbourne, purchase their specialty small-batch coffee beans online, or if you’re travelling through Timboon, drop by and get your hands on a freshly brewed cup in our Cafe.

If you enjoyed this read, take a look at our Kindred Spirits conversation with Miranda Sharp from the Melbourne Farmers Markets.