We have milk, recipes and tradition. What are we missing to enter the international cheese market? “Without a common voice, we don't count”

Without food education, processing infrastructure and a coherent public strategy, Romanian cheeses remain invisible on the global market. Not for lack of quality, but because the state does not build a framework in which these products grow, be recognized and supported, they support, in unison, the small producers.

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The World Industry of handmade cheese is worth over $ 100 billion, with a constant increase of 5% annually, it is shown in the latest report of the rural economy. The demand for authentic, sustainable and gourmet products comes from both Western consumers and the new premium markets in Asia or the Middle East.

Romania, although it has enormous potential – milk, traditional recipes, farms – is almost completely missing from this story. “I participated in four international fairs only in the last year: Sial Paris, Ife London, Tutto Food Milan and an economic mission organized by the European Commission in Japan, on the Food & Agriculture sector. In all these contexts I saw a clear thing: the global market has a huge appetite for authentic, sustainable products, with the story. of export.“, Daniel Donici, the founder of Artesana, declares for Adevărul.

Logistic obstacle: without infrastructure, do not play at the big table

In us, the controlled maturation infrastructure, for example, is almost non -existent on a large scale, adds the entrepreneur. “Many artisan producers use improvised spaces, which limits constant quality, and without constant standard you can not play at the big table,“He adds.

In his opinion, the subsidy policy for farmers and processors is chaotic and unpredictable. “In Poland, I studied their model: the producers receive direct support for the logistical export costs: container, transport, taxes. For a small Romanian producer, these costs can make the difference between or not on an external market”adds Daniel Donici.

Another problem, he adds, is that “on his own” type mentality. “In Japan, at the economic mission, we interacted with the secretary of the European Dairy Association, a powerful body, which represents European producers in front of EU institutions and on foreign markets. Romania is not a member. Why? Simple: there is no real interest in allocating resources and designating dedicated people to represent us. It was clear to me: I never had a Romanian to ask for a place at the decisions. It's not that we don't give it to you, but you have to ask and organize it. What happened then, it seemed ironic: I, a small entrepreneur, without political experience, just asking the right questions and speaking honestly about the reality on the ground, I received the proposal to enter the board of the organization on the part of Romania, of course if I will be supported by a employer association here. (…) The lesson is simple: without a common voice, we do not count. The biggest obstacle is not the bureaucracy itself but the fact that we are struggling with it separately with”, The entrepreneur continues.

Without classification, no credibility

For his part, István Varga, the founder of the cheese manufacture, a maturated cheese workshop (Mureş county), believes that the problem starts from a chronic lack of producers and milk. There are no official distinctions between industrial, artisan or integrated production, and Romania does not even recognize essential categories in the West, such as “hay milk”, a key resource for quality matured cheeses. “In the west, we have conventional milk, we have ecological milk, these seconds are available exactly that. But, besides, in the west, the milk is recognized, which is the next level, after the ecological. A very important factor is hay milk, for which, only now, measures are made to make it officially recognized. The producers as well as the consumers somehow lack information about this and, perhaps they do not realize that there would be a separate categorization for it ”, he explains.

From the point of view of bureaucracy, we lack a clear categorization, a clear definition of what the products and origin of the milk means, he adds. Therefore, this unclearness affects the entire market, from regulations to consumer confidence. Tags such as “bio”, “hand-made” or “handmade” are used arbitrarily, without official validation, which creates confusion and lack of credibility.

The producers carry all the hard. Alone.

In fact, every domestic manufacturer who tries to innovate in this field does it from his own resources. “I believe that the biggest problem we have is that all the expenses and all risks must be taken by the producers. Here I mean, in our case, to the fact that … the manufacturer produces milk, processes it, analyzes it, packs the product and takes it on the shelves of the store. At the same time, the store adds an addition of at least 30%, but up to 70-80%, and the manufacturer must assume that its product is sold or not sold. And he also invests in marketing. So, practically, I do not see any help from the authorities, from the retailers, besides the fact that these products are listed ””Explain, Bea Rtyi, sales director, arkäse.

At the same time, he believes Bea Rtyi, 100% Romanian products should be highlighted as such, not only by the place of processing, but by the origin of all raw materials. Currently, small producers depend exclusively on their own resources (“Their financial powers and their relationships”) to withstand the market. “Real support would be to grant subsidies for the finished product, not just for milk. This is also the reason why export products reach Romania at a lower price than our products, because we have no subsidies on the finished product, but we have subsidies only on milk“She thinks.

We have quality raw material. We have no system.

Romania, estimates the sales director of Arkäse, could become a leader in the Brânzeti market. “Since, if we talk about the cows in Transylvania, they not only eat grass, eat herbs and this helps the milk to be of a high quality. And for a good cheese you need high quality milk, first. More than the telemea with which we used to ask. Complete Bea Rtyi.

Education, missing link: unprepared producers and consumers

“The small producers in Romania are undermined from the clients' point of view. Consumers do not look for small producers, because the market is so crowded with different products from other countries, that the final consumer actually prefers to buy, for example, an Italian cheese and not a Romanian one. Indeed, the Italians or the French have a much wider experience in this field, but you know that we Romanians have a pretty good experience. (…) I see that, many times, we, small Romanian producers are set aside to favor other foreign producers“, Pintea Narcis, founder of the Natesese cheese workshop, believes that if they were supporting each other, the small producers could go out on the international market with Romanian cheeses.

For him, the education is the education: financial and specialized, in the field of food production. Then, real support is needed for distribution, especially the access of local products to the big store chains, including international ones. “It should be required for these networks to include local producers in the areas in which they operate. In addition, constant participation in international competitions should be encouraged not only for a few brands, but for the entire network of Romanian producers. It all starts with education, support comes only after“, Pintea Narcis opinions.

The small farmers disappear. And children don't know what to eat.

„ÎLast 20 years ago, when I moved to the village where we had a microferma, there were a lot of agricultural producers and animal breeders. Now there are a few. Because the agricultural lands were transformed into construction lands, the small farms were swallowed by urban, and the complaints of the new neighbors led to an erosion of the small zootechnical farms, which were restricted in obtaining the operating permits.

Then the markers came to us in the village, the population is increasingly tired and busy with the daily running and, when returning from work, stops at the market and finds a wide range of food and non -food. By not extending the gardens and yards of grandparents in which healthy vegetables and fruits were growing, as well as animals, the new generation no longer knows where food comes from. The lack of education in this field in schools will make the decline of small producers and deeper. At the same time, the lack of qualification of staff in agriculture and animal husbandry is another problem that farmers face; the workforce cannot be replaced entirely by technology,“Says Anca Moga, owner of Hărman farm.

Unfortunately, she adds, in Romania there is no cult of cheese consumption, but this can be corrected by education. “In the past, we knew how to make the telemea and bellows cheese, but slowly, due to intercultural exchanges, Romanians began to make other types of matured or ennobled cheeses. However, this cannot be done overnight, but patiently, specializations in various farms, certifications and qualifications“Adds the entrepreneur.

Not the lack of quality is the problem. But the lack of strategy.

The agricultural lands in Romania were not intensely exploited. We have a spontaneous flora of a great variety, and this is reflected in the quality of the feeds obtained and in the health and well -being of animals, according to it. “In the short term, Romania cannot compete with France or Italy on the diversity and consumption of cheese, as long as the majority consumption of this type of product is represented by ultra -processive cheese types, with fat substitutes, so that the price is as low as possible. From my point of view, education is the most deficient point at this time, Because we are what we consume, ”concludes Anca Moga.