Sven Mill goes West with his Royal Blue

The launch of IACP’s cookbook For the Love of Food was held in Dallas 2005 during the IACP Conference. As one of the contributing authors from Europe, Sven went over for the book signing. On the way he made a stop in Chicago and visited Art Smith, who earlier that year had been to the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Grythyttan, Sven’s home village. The two souls had found each other around the buffet table of game, various salmon dishes and blue cheese. Sven served an opening dinner at the medieval castle in Örebro. Later the same year he was one of the local hosts of the IACP Culinary Experience to Grythyttan and Sweden.

Art and Sven met again when Gourmand Awards was celebrated in Beijing 2007. Sven gave a work shop on blue cheese and air dried game. Now Art invited Sven to come over again and back to Chicago. Art was about open his restaurant Table 52. Art introduced this gifted craftsman to some selected persons. To Mike McCloskey it was obvious the skills of Sven were perfect for further developing business opportunities and quality cheese at Fair Oaks Farms.


Fair Oaks Farms is owned by 9 local dairy farm families, one of which is the McCloskey family. Located in Northwest Indiana, just outside of Chicago, it is one of the largest dairy farms in the country. Fair Oaks Farms is home to some 30,000 dairy cows. Fair Oaks Farms also opens its’ farm to visitors so they can see for themselves 21st Century dairy farming and processing at work. Environmentally sound farming practices are used to protect the soil and water for future generations; and more than 3,000 acres are set aside to protect the streams and watersheds, while providing habitat for wildlife. All cow manure is processed in anaerobic digesters to become methane gas and ultimately electricity to power the farms and milk processing plants.

Now Sven is starting up production of his famous Royal Blue Cheese and also smoking and air drying local game and making spicy sausages. So far the reactions from restaurateurs in Chicago and Washington have been very positive. Now the rumor of a terrific new cheese has started to resonate among the thousands of visitors that come to Fair Oaks Farms about the marvelous Royal Blue…


Back in 1972, Sven started his professional career in the kitchen of Loka Brunn, a Swedish resort that got its royal privilege from King Adolf Fredrik in 1632. He formed his own company Mills Ost & Vilt. Many of the products from Sven’s personal production were used by Michelin stared restaurants and others in Sweden. He became an important contributor to the chefs of the New Nordic Cuisine era. Mills Cheese & Game produced wonderful offerings from the region’s bountiful supply of wild and fresh resources. His Royal Blue was an ecological cheese crafted from cow’s milk. During many years Sven delivered a buffet to His Royal Highness the King of Sweden in celebration of the Swedish National Day. Now he has sold the Swedish branch and put all his creativity into developing tasty product for the US market.