This story is from August 29, 2019

Still a top draw, but are days numbered for Kalimpong lollipop and cheese?

Still a top draw, but are days numbered for Kalimpong lollipop and cheese?
KALIMPONG: Just as Darjeeling boasts of its tea, Kalimpong was, for long, synonymous with lollipops and cheese. Though there are still many takers for Kalimpong’s lollipops and cheese, the trade is going through a supply crunch with just one unit churning out lollipops and a home-based cheese dairy trying to preserve Kalimpong’s tradition with these products.
For decades, foreign tourists to Kalimpong have taken back lollipops and cheese to their countries.
To delve into history, Swiss Jesuit priest Father Andre Butty had introduced lollipops in Kalimpong back in 1950.
The quality of cheese and lollipops produced in the Swiss Dairy is still talked about and missed by most locals in Kalimpong. However, the dairy next to one of Kalimpong’s well-known public schools shut down after Father Butty’s demise. Some former employees of the dairy are trying to keep its legacy alive, though. One of them has opened a lollipop factory at Kalimpong’s 7th Mile.
Travellers who flock to this tiny town as a great escape from their tedious jobs to view the sunrise and admire the mountains have also found lollipops made in this lone factory ‘sweet, milky and buttery’. On one of his annual visits here, Sandipan Ghosh said, “A visit to Kalimpong is incomplete unless one buys packets of lollipops.” Local shopkeeper Subhash Pradhan said: “Lollipops from the factory are also sent across to Nepal and Bhutan.”
Senior citizens of Kalimpong hope more young people come forward to launch factories instead of waiting to get government jobs. That’s the only way Kalimpong lollipops and cheese can regain the brand they once were.
Factory owner Pappu Thapa said: “I am passionately into making lollipops in order to preserve the identity of Kalimpong. But my passion is also fuelled by my drive for enterprise. After all, the end of education is employment.”
Like Lollipops, efforts are also on to preserve Kalimpong’s tradition of making cheese. Departmental store owner Pran said, “After Swiss dairy shut down, cheese and other dairy products have been in short supply in the town. Now, cheese is only made in a home-based dairy at Gitabling, 30km from Kalimpong. This dairy operates on a small scale and supplies cheese only within Kalimpong.”
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