Introducing Wild Pastures: a new artisanal cheesemaker in Negros, bringing you Filipino brie, cambozola and Camembert-style cheeses

In late 2025, the McKays relocated to Negros for a new partnership—one that ultimately fell through after they had already made the move. It was, as Christina describes it, a moment of uncertainty that resolved itself in unexpected fashion. “It was a divine connection that led us to the Uy family. Their commitment to supporting rural communities and farmers is totally aligned with our vision of uplifting these communities.” Ramon “Chinchin” Uy and his family’s enterprises—Fresh Start Organics, a Negros-based organic enterprise rooted in sustainable farming, and Puro Organic, a purpose-driven brand committed to clean, responsibly sourced products—gave the McKays the new partnership they needed to build Wild Pastures Cheesemakers. “Bringing the skills and business acumen of Puro Enterprises together with Noble Endeavours combines business and philanthropy,” Christina says. “We believe this is the way to build businesses that uplift communities and develop new skills and innovative businesses.”

Related: Meet Ramon “Chinchin” Uy, Jr: the man behind Slow Food Negros

The mission at Wild Pastures’ core is the same one that has guided the McKays for two decades: a fair trade chain from farm to market, where the farmer’s security is as central to the business model as the quality of the cheese itself. Wild Pastures currently sources cow’s milk from a farmers’ cooperative in Murcia, with plans to bring in goat’s milk and carabao milk as the operation grows. The cooperative model ensures that farmers have a guaranteed buyer at a consistent price, removing the uncertainty that has long plagued smallholder dairy farming in the Philippines and allowing them to focus on what they do best: producing quality milk.

While their mission is indeed noble, the quality of their cheeses alone makes a compelling argument for supporting local, regional cheesemaking. The cheeses are produced using slow-lactic fermentation—a traditional French method that demands a level of craft that industrialised operations simply cannot replicate. Achieving it requires tracking pH levels over 16 to 24 hours, maintaining strict temperature control, handling curd with exceptional gentleness and making visual judgments that only develop through practice and repetition. “These steps are not possible to achieve with mechanisation due to variables such as seasonal differences,” Christina explains. The result is a cheese that resists mass production—and that resistance, in the context of a global food system that relentlessly optimises for scale, is precisely the point.

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The debut lineup is confident and considered. Kesong Rayna is a French brie-style cheese: creamy, buttery, with an edible white mould rind. Azul Ginto, the blue gold, is styled after German Cambozola, each wheel hand-needled to create its blue veins. Kesong Panganod evokes Normandy’s Camembert. And Kesong Bato, styled after the Swiss Belper Knolle, can be eaten young and funky or aged into a grating cheese, uniquely coated in moringa. That last detail signals something important about where Wild Pastures is headed. Beyond European references, Christina sees a rich and largely unacknowledged Filipino cheese heritage waiting to be explored: kesong puti, quesillo, and traditional salted and sweetened curds. “The opportunity is there to reinterpret the Filipino identity through using native ingredients, indigenous fermentation and developing Filipino flavour profiles.”

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Getting world-class artisanal cheese to Filipino consumers is not without its obstacles. Fresh products are difficult to transport across an archipelago with limited cold storage infrastructure. Imported cheeses undercut local producers on price; and where they do not, they are still favoured due to a mindset that regards foreign products as inherently superior. Wild Pastures’ strategy is patient and deliberate: the model remains predominantly business-to-business, working through chefs and high-end restaurants best positioned to introduce consumers to artisanal cheese. Christina reveals they have already “began trialling cheese tasting and appreciation events to introduce different cheeses to consumers,” and a subscription offering for retail customers is planned for 2027, alongside a possible retail outlet near Lanai by Fresh Start.

But the vision extends well beyond Wild Pastures’ own production. Christina is unambiguous about what commercial success would mean in practice: “If Wild Pastures is able to cultivate an interest and excitement in the Philippines for home-grown cheeses, that would support and reward the hard work of the myriad smallholder dairy farmers that struggle to sell their milk for a fair price. The commercial success of Wild Pastures would hopefully encourage the interest and enthusiasm of young Filipinos to become artisanal cheesemakers and enter this industry.” The goal is not a brand, but an ecosystem: more regional cheesemakers, more cooperatives with secure off-take agreements, more young Filipinos with a craft and a livelihood.

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