Bulgaria cheese exports benefit from EU inclusion

Just one month in the EU and the Bulgarian milk sector is increasing cheese exports into Germany and Poland.

The country’s number two dairy after Danone-Serdika is owned by the FAMA-Serdika group and one of only 30 milk processors in the country with a permit to export into the EU.
Main export product from the 250 tonnes of milk per day processor is traditional Bulgarian brine-marinated white cheese. Exports to the USA have also been picking up, according to marketing manager Desislava Neytscheva. But the FAMA dairy is not blind to the attractions of standard western European cheeses in Bulgaria. A marketing agreement with eastern German cheese specialist Heinrichsthaler Milchwerke in Saxony means the Bulgarians take delivery of Tilsiter, Edam, Gouda and Emmental and slice and pack the western ware for delivery throughout the new EU country.
FAMA itself has a much wider range to offer mainly local buyers so far. It takes delivery of cow, sheep and even buffalo milk from farmers in the northwest of the country. Products include drinking milk, traditional L. bulgaricus yogurts, a variety of cheeses and the customary Balkan/Russian smetana (sour cream).
At the beginning of this year a number of FAMA suppliers have signed contracts for changing over to organic production for the dairy. Bulgaria has taken a unique route to encourage this sector with the Ministry of Agriculture declaring a whole region around the town of Dobrudscha in the northwest as an organic farming reserve. This means that only organic production will be allowed on farms in the area. How this will fit in with EU concepts of marketing freedom for farmers remains to be seen.