Twenty years ago, finding pasteurized milk -what we usually call “fresh”- was an entertaining activity, although not always fruitful: only a few supermarkets brought it and you had to go early to get hold of one of the few bottles available. When you came across a small store that still sold bagged milk, you did your best to include it in your weekly route: I still remember a small place near the San Bernardo bridge in Seville where I went on a pilgrimage.
In the last ten years, the story has changed: now all large-scale supermarkets have a place dedicated to pasteurized milk, some sell more than one brand, and we can even choose between whole, semi, skimmed, lactose-free, or organic.
This growth responds to multiple factors: a greater sensitivity towards local products, the perception of pasteurized milk as more natural, the commitment of large retailers to support this trend. But talking about milk is also talking about territory, families and animal welfare: these are five farms where, in addition to producing good milk, the entire process is taken care of, from the field to the workers.
Milk as before: Farm O Rosal
“We are already advanced in age and that is why we do not set ourselves new goals beyond what we are doing. But we could go for certified organic pastures, in fact we already have them without herbicides…”. At his farm in A Laracha, in the province of A Coruña, José Manuel Suárez transforms the milk from his cows to later distribute it to individuals, cafeterias and small shops in the area. “We fight against the big producers, with prices that are below ours. But their quality is not the same, they cannot beat us in that”. Like the other farms that we mention here, at Granxa O Rosal the entire cycle is controlled: “We know how we make milk, from the moment a calf is born until it begins to give milk. That is our added value”.
La Granxa O Rosal has existed since 1983 but they did not make the leap to pasteurized milk until 2017, seeking to value the good work done with their animals. They are pasteurized at 77ºC and packaged in PET bags, the kind that many Spaniards remember from their childhood and that it is still possible to find in small local farms. “We were looking at the different options, and the bag was the best system for a small company like ours. The cost is more affordable, and it is the best system at the artisanal level so that the milk is not manipulated”. Its pasteurized -and not homogenized- milk can be found in small local stores, and cafeterias; If you live in the delivery area, they will take it home.
Farm O Rosal: place A Pereira, 1. Erboedo, Laracha (A Coruña). Tel. 617 786 582.
Armengol Farmtradition and territory
I only knew one thing about the milk from Granja Armengol, or rather two; It’s delicious and it expires soon. Just because the first condition is met, the second is not a problem: it is impossible to stop drinking it. Its history begins in 1951, when it was founded by Ramón Pujol, the father of the current manager, Joan Pujol. The project is intra-family: the livestock is in charge of his cousin, and he is in charge of the transformation and marketing.
“We have more stores than farm workers,” he tells me with a laugh when I ask him about the size of the company. Indeed, the 16 stores of Granja Armengol, with its characteristic cow at the entrance, could make us think of a large farm, but it is still all very familiar. Creating their own direct sales channel is the solution they have found to be able to control the quality of their products, increase their profit margin and not have to give in to the pressures of large distribution. Having its own showcase has also allowed it to give more added value to its dairy products, diversifying production so much that it now has 150 different references.
Of the various pasteurized milks they have, all without homogenizing, the one that most attracts the attention of the clientele -or at least our coordinator Mònica Escudero, who defines it as “a bomb of creaminess and flavor”- is the 78-15. The name refers to the pasteurization treatment that is given to it: the milk is brought to 78ºC for 15 seconds, and then it is knocked down (the temperature is quickly lowered). There is no single formula to pasteurize milk, rather it is a mixture of temperature and time that each company adjusts to its needs. Simplifying a bit, the less the temperature rises, the more the flavor of the milk is respected, but then enough time must be left to eliminate harmful bacterial flora.
When I ask him how he sees the sector, if it is as rising as it seems, Joan Pujol is not very optimistic: “In the last 5 years the consumption of cow’s milk has fallen, due to fashion, dietary, health reasons… Now the consumers look for another type of milk, such as goat milk, or go directly to vegetable drinks”. The data to which I have had access – the MAPA annual dairy survey– only partially confirm this opinion: it is true that since 2016 the general consumption of milk has decreased, but very little, by 0.06%. However pasteurized milk has risen more than 70%. All right! All right? It is not all gold that glitters: pasteurized milk has risen a lot in percentage, yes, but in absolute terms it is a very small amount. We can express it in an easy and graphic way: if you go from selling one liter to two, you have increased your sales by 100%, but you have sold only one more liter.
Armengol Farm: Mas Pujol s/n, Gurb (Barcelona). Tel. 938 862 582. Points of sale, here.
New projects in rural: As Vacas da Ulloa
Ana Corredoira, one of the members of the As Vacas da Ulloa associated work cooperative, made it clear almost eight years ago that pasteurized milk would be her winning bet. “In 2015 they called us crazy for trying to defend a project to commercialize organic fresh milk.” As Vacas da Ulloa represents the union of two cattle farms, Granxa A Cernada and Granxa Maruxa. Women who associate in the Galician countryside: this could give for a whole article.
Their milk, which is marketed under the name Sin Máis (Without More, in Galician), is the first product line they have put up for sale, in October 2021. “For us it was a declaration of intent: we need to defend a product what we have here We are [Lugo] the main milk-producing region in Spain, the eighth in Europe, however we have seen how consumption patterns have been changing and fresh milk has been disappearing from shopping baskets.”
Sin Máis advocates distribution in small stores where the relationship with the customer is essential, claiming a pattern of consumption that fits with the pillars of its approaches: “Our ambition was to be able to transform, package and market our organic milk production, reaching directly to consumers, reconnecting the rural world with the urban world”. Solid and coherent pillars: “Our production is ecological, it is linked to a territory, to a village, and our way of producing must go hand in hand with sustainability. We defend a waste reduction model, so from the outset we have established a deposit and return system for our glass bottles, which consumers can return to the points of sale”.
As Vacas da Ulloa: To Cernada (Lugo). Tel. 982 096 038. Points of sale, here.
The animal first: the welfare of the cow in Cudaña Farm
“I am surprised that anyone is interested in this topic. Thanks”. The person speaking to me is Ivón Entrecanales from Granja Cudaña, who in Cantabria does real educational work by organizing visits and workshops. “Those who visit us are surprised when they try our milk and learn the differences between pasteurized and ultrasonic milk. They feel cheated, ”he continues. “Because the industry has put it into their heads that Uerized milk is better, and thus they have made fresh milk almost disappear.”
Granja Cudaña has been raising and selecting dairy cows since 1972, but it was not until 2010 when they launched to market their own milk. They sell mainly to large consumers -hotels, canteens, geriatrics- as well as to small stores from eastern Asturias to all of Cantabria. “We had to explain to the hospitality industry how to store the milk, it seems incredible but it seems that people have forgotten that it has to go in the fridge.” Its formula: 72º for 20 seconds and does not homogenize “because that is how milk tastes better”. As José Manuel Suárez from O Rosal told me, “also if you want it homogenized you just have to shake the bottle”.
The attention of Entrecanales is centered, naturally, on the animals. Thanks to his interest in breed selection, he has traveled extensively to the United States where he found a concept that he has been putting into practice in Cantabria for almost 15 years: cow comfort, that is, the comfort of the cow. “The most important are the dry beds, because that is where the cow spends most of the time. They must be comfortable and hygienic. We, after trying different options, found the beach sand. It is comfortable for them, and since it is inert, pathogens are more controlled: in this way we have much less mastitis.”
Another feature of the cow comfort is the self-milking booth. When a cow decides that it needs to be milked, it approaches the cabin: there the sensor detects which cow it is thanks to the chip in its ear tag and, if the minimum hours have passed since the last milking, it lets it pass. Everything in the cabin is automated: teat cleaning and milking, including milk analysis to detect mastitis in time.
Cudaña Farm: c/ Labarces, 152. Labarces (Cantabria). Tel. 639 426 809.
Quintian Livestockretrace the path to improve
I had heard about the aforementioned cow comfort a few years ago, or rather I had seen it with my own eyes, at the facilities of Ganadería Quintián, a small family farm in the province of Lugo. “Automated milking improves the life of the cows and that of the farmer” comments Julio López. “Of course I have to keep an eye on them, it’s the first and the last thing I do in a day, but I’m not as much a slave to the clock as before.”
In Quintián, as in Cudaña, the cows are in a practically open space: there is a roof of course, and in Cudaña when there are storms from the north they put up an awning to protect them from the strong wind. In Quintián they are more concerned about the heat: “Ventilation is important, the heat affects them a lot, they get stressed and produce less.” And there are the ceiling fans, which can hardly be heard because there is… music.
“Ours is a life and team project: Julio takes care of the cows from feeding to milk production and I take care of the transformation and marketing,” Chelo tells me. They are both on the phone, and Julio tells me excited about the alpine browns that have been incorporated into the Friesian cabin. “It is about dignifying the work of the farmer: we do it by opening our farm to whoever wants to come and see it and controlling the quality and sale of our product. A fair price means decent work and a future for the territory”. In the end, it is Chelo who perhaps gives the key to understanding everything I have tried to tell in this article: “This is something we have been through all our lives, but we have had to retrace the path that our parents took to offer real milk again” .
Quintian Livestock: Place Friolfe, 2. Friolfe (Lugo). Tel. 648 195 989.
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