Driving the cheese train

A love of cheese and a gap in the market sparked Geelong’s Jo Bangles to set out and bring Australia’s first ever cheese train to Geelong.

Bangles and wife Tennille Moisel opened Splatters Cheese Bar in Pakington Street, where cheese is served on a 20-metre conveyor belt.

Splatters first started out in 2019 as a food truck business selling cheese platters.

As a music fan, Bangles was frequently at festivals and concerts and was always the one lugging around an Esky with a platter, much like many other eventgoers.

 

It was during a concert when she wanted a “decent cheese platter” and noticed no food trucks sold them.

“I thought it could solve a few issues at festivals. One is the amount of rubbish that’s just left over at the end by everyone’s food packaging; and two, I wouldn’t have to carry the Esky around,” she said.

That week, she bought a food truck, and the business was soon in high demand.

Once COVID hit, the pair were forced to pivot and started selling grazing boxes from their driveway.

“It was absolutely incredible how much cheese we sold during that time, it still blows my mind now,” Bangles said.

“I’m very grateful and acknowledge the hard times that so many people went through that, we were just so busy that we just didn’t really have a chance to stop.”

 

Once Victoria started opening up again, Bangles started to think about what would come next, and was inspired by a “fleeting” conversation she had with her wife in Melbourne at a sushi train a number of years ago.

“I just kind of had this idea about cheese on a train and we had this crazy conversation about how you could put anything on a sushi train.”

More research into the idea showed there was something similar in London, but nothing of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.

After seeing how much people loved cheese, Bangles believed the idea “had legs” and decided she was going to do it because if she didn’t, somebody else would.

In August 2020, the couple moved into Pakington Street building and opened the doors to their first cheese train in January 2022.

“It was an absolute dive of a building, it was so run down and in really poor condition,” Bangles said.

“I just walked in and it’s like when you buy a house or going to a rental, it’s the vibe there, you just kind of get that feeling, it’s a vision, you can see it, you can feel it, I just had that.”

 

Since opening, Bangles said it had been a bit overwhelming and still felt surreal with customers coming from interstate and overseas to visit their venue.

“We get people from all over the world come to visit us because they’ve heard about it, they’ve read about it, they’ve seen it, their friends have sent it to them.”

Bangles said Splatters had an ethos of inclusion and believed everyone deserved great cheese.

“For somebody it can feel quite intimidating walking into a fromagerie if you don’t know the right lingo or you’re not quite sure about cheese.

“We just wanted to take that element away and just make cheese fun and enjoy it for what it is and I think that’s stuck with us a bit.”

 

All of the cheese served is 100 per cent Australian, a focus of the business from its early days and something Bangles says helps them stand out even more.

“I was reading a lot of stories about the dairy farmers and the excess milk that was there because it just wasn’t getting used,” Bangles said.

“All these incredible artisan cheese makers were experimenting with these really cool cheeses and people really wanted to support local, especially small businesses.

“And not only that, just the produce we use, there’s so many incredible female artisans out there, for us to promote that as well and support that is really important to us.”

 

The passion Bangles has for supporting local businesses carries into what she enjoys most about Splatters; discovering new cheeses and learning the stories behind them.

“We’ve got cheese makers here in Victoria that were named best specialist artisan cheese makers in the world and they’re right here on our doorstep.

“People need to know that before they go out and buy something that’s imported, why not buy the stuff we’re producing right here in our backyard and it’s going to these farms.”

The success of their offerings has seen Splatters expand into a second venue in West Melbourne, with plans to continue growing.

“It blows my mind that I’ve got two cheese trains now. When I just think it was only a few years ago I just wanted to get into music festivals for free, eat good cheese and see my band.

“I just wanted a simple life and now I’m building this cheese empire, it still blows my mind.”

For more information, head to splatters.online or @splatterscheesebar on Instagram.