The Charles Sturt University Cheese Factory is set to quadruple production with a deal that will see the farmhouse cheeses available in every Safeway supermarket throughout Victoria.

The factory is now preparing a pallet load of 800kg of its produce - a mix of classic cheddar and four varieties from the Australian Native Flavour Collection - for the first delivery as part of a new agreement with Victorian distributor Menora Foods.

The agreement with the food distributor aims to have CSU cheeses on the shelves of every Safeway supermarket in time for Christmas.

Cheesemaker Barry Lillywhite said the agreement would also push the small factory's production up to one tonne per week by early next year.

"Since our sales started in May we've usually produced about 250kg of cheese over two or three days each week," he said.

"We've increased that to between four and 600kg a week now to get this first load ready and deal with the Christmas rush, and straight after New Year we'll be producing five days a week."

The factory is currently run by Mr Lillywhite and his assistant Michael Astrup, so as sales increase they also expect to employ more staff - probably doubling the team by early 2000.

As an enterprise of the University the cheese factory uses the milk from CSU's dairy and is used as a practical teaching resource for students of all faculties. Though students are not involved in the cheese making process they are able to see first hand the principles of food science in a factory environment and are also involved in developing marketing plans and project work for the factory.

The operation has recently been upgraded from a 'B class' to an 'A class' factory, and gained certification for its Hazard Analysis Critical Control Program (HACCP) following an audit by the NSW Dairy Corporation late last month.

The HACCP certificate is a global food safety and quality control system.