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„SirCro“ – Croatian Alliance of small-cale Cheese Makers
h2. Development of „SirCro“
With the assistance of the Agricultural Advisory Service, ten county
associations of cheese producers were established throughout Croatia
during 2006. All of them joined together to a national association, the
Croatian Alliance of the Small Cheese Makers „SirCro“ on January 22th,
2007.
The main goals and reasons for founding our national association were
promoting, improving, developping and protecting the production and
consumption of raw milk cheeses and dairy products made on farmsite or
artisanal throughout the Republic of Croatia.
To achieve these goals we implemented the following activities:
• Holding lectures and courses on milk production and processing
• Creating traceability control plans and guidelines to good hygiene
practices
• Organizing practical presentations / workshops / demonstrations /
exhibitions / competitions
• Promotional activities
Achievements and activities
From 2009 until today, „SirCro“ organized nine national conferences
for small-scale cheesemakers (members as well as other cheese producers
in Croatia) with complementary markets on the main square in our capital
Zagreb. Main topics of these conferences have been for example:
• Shelf life studies on raw milk fresh cheese and cream
• Nutritional value and utilization of whey
• Legislation on milk processing and facility approval
• Labelling of dairy products and nutrinational labelling
• Good hygiene practices
• Milk quality for processing
• Udder diseases and many more
Furthermore, „SirCro“ held regional and national cheese competitions in
the last four years. Regional competition were organized in six
different cities across Croatia.
In collaboration with different scientific institutions (Agricultural
and Veterinary Faculty as well as the Faculty of Food Technology), we
conducted a study on compliances with the criteria on Listeria
monocytogenes for three types of the Croatian cheeses, running from 2015
to 2017.
One of the most significant activities for our members was the
implementation of the Guideline on Good Hygiene Practices in small-scale
dairies in 2012, which had been positively evaluated by the Veterinary
directorate in the same year.
Other important activities are:
• Permanent cooperation and meetings with the competent
authorities
• Organization of expert excursions (so far we visited cheesemakers in
Slovenia, Bosnia, Switzerland and Austria)
• Participation in the Internationale Käsiade in Hopfgarten (Tirol,
Austria) in 2014 (Käsiade is organized every other year)
• Setting up two chesse roads (Chesse road Karlovac county and Chesse
road Zagreb county), and finalizing the plan of a Croatian cheese
road
Benefits for members
All members are allowed to participate with three cheeses in the
regional and national cheese competition for free. They can also
participate free of charge in the annual conference.
Any member who needs a guide on good hygiene practices for their
facility, will get it free from our technical experts in the Alliance.
They also receive help with any other problem, especially such with
inspectors. All these problems, the Alliance trys to resolve by
discussions and meetings with the competent authorities.
Members of the alliance
Originally, members of SirCro were only the county associations, that
had their own membership for cheese and other dairy producers. Since
2015 we amended by statutes and permitted membership of individual
producers, for County associations did not all survive. Today, the
Alliance counts three county associations with together 40 members (all
farmhouse cheesemakers) and three individual cheesemakers (two of them
farmhouse and one artisan cheesemaker). The county associations pay an
annual membership fee for their members. Individual members pay for
themselves. Technical experts and scientists are also welcome members.
Their work supports the promotion, improvement, development and
protection of the production and consumption of (raw milk) cheeses and
dairy products.
We are planning by different means to increase the number of individual
cheesemaker in the next few years.
Every year „SirCro“ holds a general assembly. Each county association
has three representatives in that general assembly. Additionally, in all
other counties where there are no county associations, the cheesemakers
elect one representative among themselves for every ten individual
members. The Alliance is chaired by a president and two secretaries
(technical and economic), who are elected by all members of the assembly
every four years.
The current President of the Alliance is Romina Zadravec who has a
small, family-run dairy farm with 16 cows and milk processing facility.
She produces different types of semi-hard cheese, cheese with spices and
smoked cheese, yogurt, fresh cheese and cream. She also produces our
brand „Zagrebački friški kravlji sir ZG Sirek“ („Zagreb fresh cow cheese
ZG Sirek“). ZG Sirek is a typical farmhouse cheese in the central region
of Croatia (wider area of the capital city of Zagreb), produced only by
a natural acidification and coagulation of raw milk, i.e. without the
addition of starter culture and rennet. This fresh cheese is salted and
then dried in a warm place (in summer outside in sheltered nets, in
winter indoors above a fireplace).
Contact
Savez malih sirara Republike Hrvatske „SirCro“
Remetinečki Gaj 14
10020 Zagreb
KROATIEN
Romina Zadravec
romina.zadravec@zg.t-com.hr
Andelka Pejakovic
andelka.pejakovic@mps.hr
In short
Number of cheesemakers: 42
Therefrom
Cow: 36 (85,7 %)
Goat: 5 (11,9 %)
Sheep: 1 (2,4 %)
Buffalo: 0
Quantity of transformed milk:
ca. 1,8 Mill. kg per year
Typical products:
Fresh cheese and cream, Dried fresh cheese, Soft creaking cheese, Semi
hard cheese, Hard cheese, Semi hard cheese from boiled milk without or
with herbs, spices or smoked
Raw milk:
Sale of raw milk:
• At farm
• Selling via automat
• Customer delivery within 50 km radius
Sale of raw milk cheese without restrictions.