Business
www.qns.com I LIC COURIER I MARCH 2018 41
Buster
and Sini were
pioneers in the specialty food
industry. They were the first company
to import cheese from Portugal to the
market and were at the forefront of
introducing Marcona almonds, known
as the “Queen of Almonds,” from Spain
to American consumers.
Buster, who lived in Spain for three
years, was also responsible for bringing
Drunk-en
Goat,
a semi-soft
goat cheese
soaked in Spanish
Doble Pasta wine, to the
American specialty food market.
Forever Cheese has come a long
way after starting in a one-bedroom
apartment at Shore Towers in Astoria.
Buster has also been able to take her
suppliers along for the ride and prides
herself on having close relationships
with all of the farmers and producers
she works with.
Buster regularly takes trips to visit
her suppliers and takes her staff to
educate them and help the producers
“be successful with these products.”
“We’re very proud of what we do be-cause
we work directly with our produc-ers,”
she said. “This is a thing few people
can say. I’m on a first name basis with
them. We don’t work with middle men.”
Western Queens residents can pick
up Forever Cheese products at Astoria
Bier and Cheese, Sorriso Fine Foods,
Green Bay Marketplace and Food Cellar
under the brand Mitica.
“We always told everybody that the
Long Island City neighborhood was an
amazing neighborhood,” Buster said. “We
used to belong to the East River Tennis
Club. You had the best of both worlds —
Long Island City was not so hustle and
bustle and you were so close the city.”
Buster said she and Sini, who
are no longer dating, plan to stay
in the area for years to come and
will focus on bringing the best
products from the Mediterra-nean
to an American audience.
“We were just two young kids who
had all this passion and who had what
it took to bring all the best products,”
she said. “It’s always been about the
product and embracing the people who
make them as being very special and
transmitting that to our customers. We
never set out to conquer the world. We
don’t need to be the biggest. We don’t
want to be the biggest. We just want to
be the best, the best service with the
best product.”
To learn more about Forever Cheese
products and where to purchase them,
visit www.forevercheese.com.
What we’ve
always tried to do
is bring very iconic
products from Italy,
Spain, Portugal, Croatia
and introduce them to
the American
public.
MICHELE BUSTER
Founder
