Preserving and Marketing Farmhouse Artisan Cheese Erasmus Project

Project Title

Preserving and Marketing Farmhouse Artisan Cheese

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships addressing more than one field

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2014

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Rural development and urbanisation; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Enterprise, industry and SMEs (incl. entrepreneurship)

Project Summary

P&M project aimed discover, to research and to document the unique artisan cheese production techniques and product information in order to disseminate the knowledge to the public so that the traditional knowledge could be preserved and transferred to the next generation. Learning from successful examples and harmonizing the new knowledge with the expertise of our partner organizations, the team developed new methods as to how to leverage competitive advantages. The new learnings were compiled into a training program with a wide range of stakeholders. Finally, P&M project developed guidelines for local policy makers and government authorities to inform them about the regulative challenges of the traditional cheese makers, flexibility aspect of the EU food and safety directives and practical methods that incorporates the regulations for the mutual benefit of artisan cheese producers and consumers. The project, therefore, dealed with the three main problems of the artisan cheese makers, namely, the production methods, marketing strategies and regulative environment and developing integrated learning platform to educate the target groups.

Project has 7 partners, Slow Food Italy, Slou Fud Bitola, Spanish FACE network, Ardahan University, Bogatepe Association and Provincial Directorate of Food Agriculture and Livestcok (Ardahan and Kars provinces). Slow Food in general works in the area of protection, promotion and education of sustainable food, engages with local producers and consumers to organize local events and campaigns for production, processing, distribution and consumption of sustainable food. FACE network is an association which represents, both at national and European level, the interests of almost 13 000 farm-house and artisanal cheese makers, located in 11 European countries. Bogatepe Life and Environment Association is a highly active civil organization dedicated to improve the lives in the rural villages. Bogatepe has members specialized in cheese making and milk processing establishments. Provincial Directorate of Food Agriculture and Livestock of Ardahan (PDFAL) is the governmental authority in the region. PDFAL will contribute to the project through assisting in the food and safety regulative matters, providing food and livestock experts, arrangement of marrangement of the training activities at villages. Ardahan University contributed to the P&M project through its pool of experts from various backgrounds (i.e. pedagogue, training instructors, bio-food experts, IT specialists and Project Managers).

The project was designed to deliver three intellectual outputs in course curriculum and guideline formats. The guidelines were converted into training modules and published at self learning website platforms. The module was also converted into a classroom training program and piloted in Turkey. The project activities started with State of the Nation analysis to expose the current situation in the project regions, followed by joint staff trainings, focus groups, case studies, legislation reviews, and innovation meetings to discover new solutions and practical approaches to the chronic problems of the stakeholders. Transnational meetings were organized to exchange information and experience, gained from the research and exploration studies, across the project countries. The results of the intellectual outputs was furtherly disseminated through conferences in Turkey, Macedonia, and Spain. The project designing also included a M&E system built on a logical framework matrix including outcomes, inputs, performance indicators, methods and time of measurement, responsibilities, and risks.

The improved legislative environment increased the survival rate of the small-scale dairy companies in the market. P&M outputs the first steps of creating awareness to organize a better structured market for the benefit of the government, small farms, and dairy producers.The P&M training on marketing opened new venues for the farmhouse cheese makers and small scale dairy producers. P&M regional outcomes had impact of the national policies on food and safety, providing structural solutions not only to the project regions but to the producers facing similar challenges across the country. Therefore, the national economy benefited from the fair and healthy competition by strengthening the small scale dairy producers, and the underground economy became less of an issue. P&M activities improved the social welfare of the rural communities earning their lives mainly from livestock and agriculture practices. P&M project took the first steps in terms of developing a common guideline among EU countries on food and safety regulations of the small scale cheese producers.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 207624,5 Eur

Project Coordinator

Ardahan University & Country: TR

Project Partners

• Ardahan il GidaTarim ve Hayv M
• SLOW FOOD ITALIA ASSOCIAZIONE
• RED ESPANOLA DE QUESERIAS DE CAMPO Y ARTESANAS
• Kars il GidaTarim ve Hayv M
• Bogatepe Cevre ve Yasam Dernegi
• Zdruzenie za zastita promocija i edukacija za hrana Slou Fud Bitola