About The Red Cow

Tom Merkli from The Red Cow

The Red Cow is Australia’s specialist artisan Swiss cheese importer bringing exclusive brands such as the Sélection Rolf Beeler range of artisan Swiss cheese as well as other high quality, artisan Swiss cheese to Australia.

Tom founded The Red Cow in late 2011 and the first commercial shipment arrived in April 2012 marking the start of selling The Red Cow’s artisan Swiss cheese to the Australian market.

Tom – mountain climber, high seas sailor, Swiss native – believes, like most people from Switzerland, that cheese is much more than just food. Growing up, his mother had a sweet spot for cheese, making sure the family never ran out. In his teens, Tom’s father introduced him to the family’s cheese supplier, Maître Fromager & affineur Rolf Beeler. Rolf speaks of cheese like a grand romance, and this infectious fancy was not lost on Tom, whose love for cheese continued to grow over the years.

When Tom moved to Australia in 2010 there were only a handful of artisan European cheeses available in Australia, most of them originating from France and Italy, not Switzerland. And thus precipitated Tom’s light bulb moment to give Australian’s the opportunity to savour the uniqueness of genuine artisan raw milk Swiss cheese.

Rolf Beeler
Rolf Beeler

Rolf Beeler is referred to as ‘The Pope of Cheese’ in Switzerland and has over 30 years of experience choosing, aging and purveying artisan Swiss cheese. Rolf monitors the cheese production from start to finish, beginning with the health of the cows and the grass they consume and ending with the time spent maturing each cheese. Most of the cheeses in the Selection Rolf Beeler collection are made from raw milk.

See also Rolf Beeler on Wikipedia; Rolf Beeler’s homepage.

The Red Cow milestones

2011

Incorporation of The Red Cow (Australia) Pty Ltd

2012

Signing of the first distributor for Melbourne and commencement of commercial imports

Participation at Taste of Melbourne

2013

Extension of cheese range

Signing of second distributor in Melbourne

Participation at Melbourne’s Food & Wine Festival and Taste of Melbourne

Private cheese events for high-profile, Swiss corporate client

2014

Expansion into Western Australia

Signing of distributor for Geelong, Bellarine and Surf Coast

Signing of distributor for New South Wales and South Australia

Launch of the Tartana Bomba rice, endorsed by Rolf Beeler

Participation at the French Festival in South Yarra

2015

Company relocation to Brisbane

Expansion into Queensland with first retailer in West End/Brisbane

2016

Further expansion in Queensland with shops stocking The Red Cow products across Brisbane

2018

Expansion of online shop with fixed, weekly dispatches

Participation at Swiss Festival in Melbourne

2019

Introduction of Switzerland’s oldest brand product, Sap Sago (Zigerstöckli)

Introduction of a new line of raclette appliances from TTM Traitements Thermiques S.A., Switzerland. The Red Cow is now the official reseller of their products in Australia. See our corresponding press release here.

2020

Introduction of the Alpine Rewards Program for the Alpine Express Online Shop

2021

The Red Cow celebrates 10 years of incorporation. Happy birthday to us!

2022

Separation of the online business, Alpine Express, and The Red Cow. The Red Cow’s website will now focus on the imported cheese and it’s wholesale side of business whereas Alpine Express is the transactional, consumer facing side.

2023

The Red Cow launches a new, independent e-commerce site focusing entirely on plant-based products, functional foods and socially conscious products: futuredeli.co

2 thoughts on “About The Red Cow

  1. How available is your tete de moine ? With Christmas coming, can a quantity be ordered with delivery a few days before a certain date?

  2. Hi Bob,

    Thanks for your question. We should have enough, however, every year we order more and every year we have been running out of it. So if you know you need it, I’d order it early (ours have 30 days best before date). You can also pre-order it and specify a specific dispatch day during check-out then. That way the stock is secured but you don’t have to store it.

    tom/The Red Cow.

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