CADIZ CHEESES RACES Operational Group: Differentiation and characterization of cheeses from the Sierra de Cádiz made with milk from Merino Grazalema sheep and Payoya goats through the determination and isolation of native fermentation strains
- Type Operational group
- Status In progress
- Execution 2021 -2023
- Assigned Budget 186.093,00 €
- Scope Autonómico
- Autonomous community Andalucía
- Main source of financing PEPAC 2023-2027
- Project website GO RAZAS CADIZ CHEESES
Solutions that come from this Operational Group
- Production surveys. These surveys allow livestock farmers to assess and monitor production indicators.
- Establish action protocols to optimize the hygienic quality of milk from Grazalema Merino sheep and Payoya goats (cleaning criteria and proper disinfection of milking equipment).
- Implement the sensor used for real-time optimization of the cleaning and disinfection system in dairy milking parlors. This sensor will assist in the correct dosage of cleaning products, optimizing product costs.
- List of lactic acid bacteria identified in Merina cheeses from Grazalema and Payoya, which will help identify the cheeses' characteristics in terms of flavor, aroma, texture, and appearance. The use of these strains will unequivocally identify cheeses from the Sierra de Cádiz as unique.
- A digital tool that supports and assists decision-making at all three levels (laboratory, livestock, and industrial). With this tool, all stakeholders will be aware of the results of the raw materials for their subsequent transformation into cheese. This way, the end consumer will have access to a differentiated and unique cheese that will be increasingly in demand. This demand for cheese will help increase the number of livestock farms and cheese factories in the Sierra de Cádiz, helping to establish a population.
The motivation for this project was to bring together the Grazalema and Payoya Merina Breeders' Associations, the El Gazul and El Bosqueño cheese factories, and CICAP to generate a value chain associated with milk production in the Sierra de Cádiz. All these stakeholders will be involved in ensuring that milk production from the Grazalema and Payoya Merina breeds adds value through processing in their own territories and by identifying and using ferments specific to this milk. To achieve this, a digital application is needed so that data and information can flow immediately between stakeholders.
The Grazalema and Payoya Merina Breeders' Associations are linked to the Sierra de Grazalema and Los Alcornocales Natural Parks. These natural parks are regulated by European Directives, State Laws, and regulations of the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. These two natural parks would not exist as they are today without the production of milk from the Grazalema and Payoya Merina breeds, and without the transformation of this milk into cheeses in keeping with the traditions of their people. It is necessary to adapt this tradition to the digital age and, therefore, promote this digitalization within a natural and traditional concept.
- ACTIVITY 1: Characterization of flocks of Merino sheep from Grazalema and Payoya goats from the Sierra de Cádiz.
- ACTIVITY 2: Design digital tools to optimize sanitation activities on the Merino sheep farms of Grazalema and the Payoya goat farms of the Sierra de Cádiz.
- ACTIVITY 3: Select and characterize the ferments specific to each animal species (Grazalema Merino Sheep and Sierra Cádiz Payoya Goat).
- ACTIVITY 4: Establish usage protocols to optimize the efficiency of the ferments selected for each breed.
- ACTIVITY 5: Create a digital tool to interconnect the farmer, the cheesemaker and the laboratory.
The creation of this Operational Group arises from a need within the livestock and processing sector of the Sierra de Cádiz, where companies join forces to invest in the development of innovative technologies that add value to a product unique for its nutritional and organoleptic qualities. A proposal for improving the Andalusian sheep and goat sector, based on the integration of the different links in the production chain, aims to unify efforts and achieve a common goal.
- Coordinator/entity name: Antero Manuel Murillo Navarro
- Postal address: Dehesa Boyal Industrial Estate, 14400 Pozoblanco, Córdoba
- Coordinator/entity email: amurillo@cicap.es
- Telephone: 670791295
This project aims to modernize the Merina breeders of Grazalema and Payoya located in the Sierra de Cádiz, as well as the companies that process milk from these breeds into cheese. To this end, digital tools will be used, applying innovative techniques and technologies that will be made available to farmers and cheesemakers without losing their identity and way of doing things. Therefore, the sensors and digital tools used in the RazasCádizCheeses GO program will be adapted to the facilities and equipment of farmers and cheesemakers. Thanks to all this, this project will be enriching for all involved, as it will create an exchange of knowledge, training, and innovation through the applied digital tools.
- Antero Manuel Murillo Navarro
- José Alfredo Castro Mateos (raza@merinadegrazalema.com)
- Olga González Casquet (payoya@payopya.com)
- Ramón Gago Sánchez (ramon@quesoselbosque.com)
- Patricia Romero Jimenez (info@queseriaelgazul.com)
- Rafael Luís Torres Martell (rtorres@dipucadiz.es)
- Antero Manuel Murillo Navarro
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