Commercial production of soft, semi hard and hard cheeses from goat, buffalo and cow’s milk
O.C. Emata, I.G. Sarmago, M.C.R. Moreno

ABSTRACT

Cheese production is a good method of creating a balance in the supply and demand of milk as it tends to absorb excess milk during the peak season – from July to January, which would just be sold in time during the Christmas holidays. From July to December of every year, there is a relatively low demand for fresh milk because of high expenses during the holiday season. This is the best time when cheese production is in full operation. This project primarily aimed to facilitate cheese production technology transfer and adoption to dairy farmers and entrepreneurs for a more sustainable commercial production of different kinds of cheese. To realize this, technology transfer initiatives were implemented by the project in selected dairy farms and cooperatives in the Philippines. The main objective of this study is to document the cheese production technology transfer initiatives and the project outcome. Specifically, it aimed to: a) discuss the activities undertaken and the outcome of the technology transfer initiatives; b) identify problems encountered by the project beneficiaries in the course of their operation; and c) provide recommendations for a sustainable technology adoption among the project beneficiaries. Nine dairy farms and cooperatives in the Philippines were given technical assistance in the form of trainings and advisory services. Key informant interview was also conducted where basic questions were asked: size of operation, volume of production, market, and problems encountered. From among the nine project beneficiaries, three of them adopted the technologies shared by the project: a) Gouda cheese by Real Fresh Dairy Farm Inc.; Edam cheese by Leon Philip Farm and white cheese, yoghurt and Kefir by Delfin Island Family Farm. The problems encountered by seven project beneficiaries in the course of their operation are the lack of technical expertise and the lack of dairy processing facilities and equipment. To address this problem, the following recommendations are given: a) continuous provision of technical assistance and advisory services; b) conduct of monitoring and evaluation to determine if there are improvements in the operation because of the interventions;  c) assistance in providing linkage with funding agencies (DOST, DTI, etc.) to avail of grants for dairy processing facilities; and d) assistance in the procurement of supplies (rennet, starter culture, cheese molds) by giving referrals to suppliers offering cheaper yet good quality products.

Keyword(s):

hard cheese, semi-hard cheese, soft cheese

Commodity:

Animal Products

Year:

2018

Discipline:

Dairy Processing