Between 22 and 24 October, the POCTEFA Know N Cheese project will be holding a cross-border event in Markina-Xemein and the surrounding area.
The event will bring together technical sessions on artisanal dairy production and activities aimed at the general public, with a view to showcasing these products and raising awareness of them.
On 21–22 September, the POCTEFA Know N Cheese project is organising an interregional visit to Iparralde.
PROGRAMME
Day 1 – 21 September
08:00 Meeting point: Fire Station car park, Durango (departure at 08:15)
Stops:
09:15 Repsol Oiartzun (AP-8)
09:45 Behobia / Irun
12:15 Arrival at destination
12:30 Lunch at Chistera Restaurant (Ordiarp)
14:00 Visit to Azkorria dairy (Musculdy)
16:00 Visit to the dairy farm supplying the cheese factory: milk production and management
17:30 End of visits
18:15 Arrival at Hotel Mauléon
Day 2 – 22 September
09:30 Technical workshop: Topic: Evolution of milk and cheese quality in the context of climate change
CONTENTS
12:00 End of workshop. Lunch
13:30 Return journey. Arrival in Durango, with intermediate stops at Repsol Oiartzun and Behobia/Irun, and an expected arrival in Durango between 17:30 and 18:00.
DETAILS
REGISTRATION
Register by email:
On 2 and 3 June, a new meeting of the project consortium was held in the French town of Hasparren. With the presence of all partner entities, the technical secretariats and the associated entity Uztartu, the session served to review progress on the actions over the last six months and to plan those that will be carried out until the end of the year, which will mark the closure of the project.
During the month of June, POCTEFA Know N Cheese will complete actions 2 and 3 of its planning, focused on trials on climate change and on the study of the effect of applying innovative practices and solutions that promote more sustainable production models. It will then focus, until the end of the year, on the development of action 4, aimed at training activities for professionals in the sector as well as awareness-raising and training initiatives for the general public.
On 14 March, the Know N Cheese project took part in the 6th edition of Gustoko, the leading food and gastronomy fair for the agri-food sector, held at the BEC in Bilbao.
This event, which showcases high-quality products characterised by sustainable production, artisanal craftsmanship and local origin, is aimed at both professionals and the general public. It provided an excellent opportunity to raise awareness and promote knowledge of artisanal cheeses produced on both sides of the Pyrenees.
Nearly 60 people filled the fair’s activity room to attend the project presentation and enjoy a guided tasting of local artisanal cheeses, led by project partner Esneki Zentroa Leartiker, with the collaboration of Hazi Fundazioa.
You can watch a short summary video here.
The Know N Cheese project held its fourth follow-up meeting on 2 and 3 December. Held in the city of VIC, the two-day event served as a meeting point to review the progress made in the different lines of work over recent months, such as research into the impact of climate change on the properties of milk and dairy products, research and development of new dairy products on a pilot scale, and trials to assess milk and cheese production in SMEs in the face of climate change.
In addition, the activities planned for the first quarter of 2026 were presented, a year in which dissemination and training activities with the artisan dairy sector and consumers will take centre stage.
Last October, the Poctefa Know N Cheese project was present at one of the most important artisan cheese fairs in Catalonia, the Fira de Sant Ermengol.
At this event, aimed at the general public and featuring artisan cheese producers from the Pyrenees, the partner organisation Leartiker gave a presentation on this cross-border project in its ‘Aula de tast’ space. During this activity, the public was able to learn about the objectives, lines of work and specific actions developed and planned within the framework of the project. Finally, attendees were also able to enjoy a guided tasting of cheeses from the POCTEFA area.
The presence at this landmark event was a great opportunity to socialise the values of artisan cheese production and highlight its strengths.
Translated with DeepL.com (free version)
On 7 and 8 July, the Know N Cheese Project Consortium held its 3rd Monitoring Committee meeting to review the progress made in recent months and the next steps in the various lines of action.
The meeting was held at the headquarters of one of the French partners, the Institut de l’Elevage (Idele) in Toulouse, and provided a great opportunity to compare views and agree on the next steps on both sides of the Pyrenees.
Two days of work were attended by all the partner organisations: Esneki (Leartiker Dairy Centre), Prosumerlab and Hazi, the BETA Technology Centre (University of Vic), Idele (Institut de l’Elevage) and Interprofession lait de Brebis, as well as the companies responsible for the project’s technical assistance: CDI Consultants and Ciudadano Kane Comunicación.
The POCTEFA Know N Cheese Project, which brings together 6 entities on both sides of the Pyrenees, has represented during the month of April the study carried out on food sustainability associated with dairy consumption habits in Catalonia, Aragon, Euskadi, Navarre and the French departments of the Pyrenees.
This European project, which seeks to increase the competitiveness of traditional dairy and cheese farms by boosting their sustainability, has carried out a diagnosis of knowledge, needs and opportunities in terms of food sustainability among 1,500 people in these territories. From this study it has been possible to extract valuable information on the level of knowledge they have about sustainability in dairy production and their consumption habits of these foods.
The Abastos market in Vitoria-Gasteiz was the venue chosen for this presentation of the main conclusions drawn, with the participation of the three Basque project partners: Esneki Zentroa – Leartiker, HAZI and Prosumerlab, a consultancy firm specialising in consumer studies, which carried out the study presented. These three entities join the BETA Technology Centre (University of Vic) from Catalonia and, from France, Idele (Institut de l’elevage) and Interprofession lait de Brebis, in the development of this cross-border collaboration project.
These are some of the main conclusions of the study presented:
Purchase motivations
Taste and quality. According to the data from this study, the primary motivation for buying artisan cheese is the pleasure variable, both in Spain and in France. 79% of those surveyed in Spain and the same percentage of those surveyed in France decide to consume this type of cheese for its taste and quality.
Sustainability. With regard to sustainability as a value of artisanal cheese production, it is worth noting that the consumer public does not seem to consider the environmental sustainability of this type of production as a purchase motivation. In Spain, only 25% value it as a purchase driver, compared to 20% in France.
However, economic and social sustainability are values that do drive the purchase of artisan cheese. Thus, support for the local economy and small business producers do motivate people to buy artisan cheese. In Spain, 54% choose this type of cheese to support local producers and 49% because it is a local product. In France, the figures follow the same trend, being slightly higher in both cases.
Price. However, despite the positive assessment of food sustainability linked to artisan cheeses, price appears as a factor with the greatest impact on the final purchase decision, with 68% of consumers voting for it as a purchase motivation.
Health. Another of the main conclusions drawn is that health, or the perception that artisan cheeses are healthy products, is not a significant purchase motivation. This is only the case for 14% of the sample surveyed in Spain and 23% in France.
Times and places of purchase
Other results of the research show that, in general, consumers buy cheese in hypermarkets or supermarkets, with a small percentage of them buying directly from cheese dairies or markets, opting for longer, less sustainable value chains and, in general, with an economic impact on cheese dairies, which are forced to pay lower prices in order to appear on the shelves (competitive prices), which, a priori, could be understood as a low willingness to pay more for more sustainable products.
The results also show that local, PDO and artisan products are understood as sustainable. Thus, 47% of people surveyed in Spain and 40% in France do not buy these products, mainly because of their high price, so once again there does not seem to be a generalised willingness to pay for products that are classified as more sustainable.
In general, the more information about the product (its artisanal origin, its production method, etc.), the more consumers are willing to pay a higher price for an artisanal cheese, in particular, this situation was repeated among 61% of the people surveyed in Spain and 58% of those consulted in France
Low level of knowledge of local products
Nevertheless, the most significant conclusion of this diagnosis is the low level of knowledge that consumers show they have of local products. In Spain, only 17% of those surveyed said they knew of an artisanal cheese dairy in their area. In France, this percentage is considerably higher, reaching 31%.
The data extracted from this study will be used to focus the actions to be developed within the Know N Cheese project during 2025 and 2026, seeking to obtain more evidence to value the sustainability of this type of production, the incorporation of innovations and, as a final point, training actions for the dairy sector and consumer awareness to help boost the traditional dairy-cheese sector, favouring its sustainable growth.
All this and much more can be found in the technology watch report available on the project website.
On 15 and 16 January 2025, the Know N Cheese project consortium held its second face-to-face follow-up meeting in Donostia-San Sebastian.
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