The shop is located at the front of the cheese factory, to enable visitors to experience the Ashgrove Cheese business.
Tour Bookings
Pre-booked Coach Tours are offered a presentation on the cheese making process in an information presentation room.
Viewing of cheese making
A large viewing window into the cheese making room allows visitors to watch the cheese being made in season between August and May. The cheese making display beside the window explains each stage of the process. Another set of viewing windows show visitors into the cheese maturing rooms where rows of cheese are displayed. Detailed information on the process of cheese maturation and traditional cloth maturing of cheese complete the information here.A short 5 minute video showing the cheese making process runs continuously in the information presentation room. Informative staff will be happy to assist with additional information about the cheese making process and the difference between the varieties of cheese.
Facilities
Espresso coffee, tea, cold drinks and ice creams are all available to enjoy whilst watching the video presentation. Alternatively they can be mixed with cheese snack packs from the shop and consumed on the outside deck areas with scenic views of the rural countryside.
Cheese Tastings
The full range of Ashgrove varieties is available for tasting and purchase in the shop. A range of shapes and sizes are available along with gift boxes and baskets.
Other Tasmanian Cheeses
To compliment the Ashgrove range a number of other Tasmanian hand made cheeses are also sold:
- Swiss style cheeses from Heidi Farm Cheese at Exton. The range includes the award winning Gruyere, Raclette and Tilsit.
- White mould, washed rind and blue cheeses from Lactos at Burnie. The range includes Camembert, Brie, Red Square, True Blue and Deep Blue.
- Goat cheese from Tasmanian Highland Cheese at Bothwell. The range includes Farmhouse Chevre Logs, small Chevrets and Marinated Chevrets.
Cheese Utensils
To assist visitors in the presentation of the cheeses at home the shop offers a selection of cheese serving utensils and platters. These include cheese knives and planners made from Tasmanian native timbers, cheese boards crafted from local timbers, platters made from recycled bottles.
Tasmanian Gourmet Food Products
In addition to cheese the shop also features an extensive range of Tasmanian produced gourmet foods:
- Chocolates, truffles and fudge from D'Anvers, Island Produce Tasmanian and Federation Chocolate;
- Honeys from the Tasmanian Honey Company, Stephens Honey and Taveners;
- Mustards, relishes, sauces, jams, fruit pastes and vinegars from Hill Farm, Tasmanian Gourmet Sauce Company, Doran's, and Hillwood Strawberry Farm;
- Salad dressings from Red Kelly;
- Pickled Products from Tasmanian Octopus Products, Blue Banner Pickled Onions, Si Bon, Freycinet Pickled Walnuts;
- Olives from Island Olive Grove;
- Biscuits, cakes and Pork Pies from Naturally Nichols and
- Smoked eels from Eels Australis, Smoked Salmon from 41 deg South.
Tasmanian Wines
A range of Tasmanian boutique wines, fruit wines and exotic spirits are sold to compliment the cheese and food. Brands include Springvale Vineyard, Brook Eden Vineyard, Elmslie Wines, St Matthias, Ninth Island, Lake Barrington Vineyard, Hartzview Vineyard, Hillwood Strawberry Farm, Lark Distillery.
Opening Hours
Weekdays - 7.30am to 6pm. Weekends - 8 am to 6 pm.
Closed Christmas Day and Good Friday.
Parking and Access
Ample parking is provided, including access for caravans and trailers, disabled parking by the building. Coach access enables divers to drop passengers at the front door. The entrance to the shop is level providing easy access for wheel chairs and prams. A disabled toilet is provided for visitor comfort along with public toilet facilities.
How to Find Us
Ashgrove Cheese is easy to find. It is conveniently located on the Bass Highway (A1) at Elizabeth Town 4km North of the Elizabeth Town Hotel. The factory is clearly visible from the highway and a large sign at the entrance gate guides people in. See our Location Map for details.
From Devonport the travel time is 25 minutes. Ashgrove Cheese is located to the right of the highway and is encountered before reaching Elizabeth Town. From Launceston the travel time is 40 minutes. Ashgrove Cheese is located to the left of the highway 4km past the Elizabeth Town Hotel. The entrance is found 200m past the end of the passing lanes.