Coordinating for Comté
Making Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) cheese is not for the late to rise, and in the Jura Massif region, where they produce Comté and Morbier PDOs for shipping globally, early is better. Comté was granted Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée (AOC) status back in 1958. This ensures that Comté production follows a set of stringent rules and requirements. The Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée also guarantees that the making of Comté remains based on traditional methods and stages, which have been in place for over 1,000 years.
Three departments in France are home to the cheeses – Doubs, Jura, Haute-Saône and the Territoire de Belfort. This region shares a border with Switzerland and produces around 65,000 tonnes of Comté annually. The product is “high value,” the makers note, and they talk of “the three-legged stool” of the groups responsible for creating Comté: the dairy farmers that provide milk, the cheese makers or fruitières turning the milk into cheese, and the affineurs that mature the cheese to perfection. The large wheels of unpasteurised cow milk cheese are aged from eight to 36 months. The 70cm wheels are pale yellow and quite large, with a grey brown rind.
Strict regulations mean that the fresh milk collected from the milk of Montbéliard (and Simmenthal) cows must travel no more than 25 kilometres before being made into cheese. Each cow is given a hectare of pastureland in the summer months, and when the cows return to the stable, they eat locally harvested hay, both of which help to maximise Comté’s potential. Any fermented feed such as sileage is prohibited because it adversely affects the quality of the milk, which is used raw. Comté has also refused GMOs and presents all guarantees in respect of the product.
The 3,000 farmers have an average of 30 cows each, with the one farm visited, Gaec du Sauget, having 105 animals. As one farmer said, there is a limited number of farms available, and a lot of people from rural areas want to return to farming in the region.
Marie Roy, a farmer in Vevy, with her associates Mickaël and Florian Pelletier, notes there is a sense of belonging in the region where she grew up. She spent ten years in Ireland and two years in New Zealand, before returning to the area. “The cooperative creates wealth that is shared equally with the quality of milk produced,” she notes.
Each day, the cheese is crafted in around 153 small village cheese dairies known as fruitières. Each fruitière continues to receive milk from dedicated dairy farms situated within an eight mile radius to guarantee its freshness.
The freshly made wheels are then pre-ripened for a few weeks on-site, before being moved to one of the 16 local maturing cellars. Here the affineurs look after them for four to 18 months or more. This includes regularly turning, salting and rubbing each one with brine solution.
Over time a crust appears and every Comté wheel develops its smooth texture, rich colour and range of flavours. To maintain this natural process, the exclusion of additives and colourings at any stage of the process applies, as do strict rules preventing changes in the milk production.
Export markets for the cheese range from the UK, Belgium and Japan, to the Netherlands, Germany and Spain. The communal board decides every decision together, from milk price to distribution. As Éric Chevalier, chair of the Cnaol R&D Commission, and also director of interprofessional and external relations at Monts & Terroirs, notes, “We can’t produce a Comté on its own,” relying on the entire group to produce the cheeses. “This meets every three to five weeks in the area, so that everybody works in the same direction and at the same pace, together.”
Panel: EU’s “More Than Only Food and Drink” campaign aimed at UK
The EU has launched a dedicated communication campaign to champion the qualities of European food and beverage products to UK food industry professionals – highlighting the continent’s food safety, quality, authenticity and sustainability credentials, the organisers say.
The ‘More Than Only Food and Drink’ campaign has been devised to further strengthen awareness and appreciation among UK food businesses of the key characteristics that make EU food and beverage products stand out from other markets.
The awareness drive will focus specifically on six product categories including processed meat: charcuterie, salami, hams, sausages; fresh meat: poultry (including duck/goose) beef, pork, lamb; dairy and cheese; fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables; bakery products and confectionery and wine, spirits and beers.
A team of specialist UK advisors, who are experts in each category, have been recruited to support the campaign messaging. Together they will help to promote the standards, regulations and tracking in place to protect food safety, food quality, animal welfare and the environment. The campaign will also seek to improve the recognition and understanding of EU food quality labels such as Protected Denomination of Origin (PDO) Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), and EU Organic.
“More Than Only Food and Drink” is inviting UK food industry professionals to explore the world of EU food and beverage through a series of events, seminars, and experiences. This will include large-scale trade exhibitions, specialised seminars on topics including sustainability, roundtables focusing on wine and meat industries, and webinars in collaboration with leading trade publications. Innovation showcases will highlight EU food technologies and study trips to EU countries will provide hands-on experience with producers.
Interactive events will be supported with an earned and paid media campaign to further communicate the messaging and reach even wider audiences.
https://enjoy-its-from-europe.campaign.europa.eu/united-kingdom/en
