Cheese making plant opens in Austria

Only three years ago four small cheesemaking concerns high in the Austrian Alps overlooking Lake Constance got together and formed Alpenkäse Bregenzerwald, a dairy co-operative now adding final touches to an ultra-modern €9.5m cheese making and maturing complex in Bezau.There are 220 dairy farms involved, most of them grazing their herds at 1700 metres or higher, and all producing traditional mountain cheeses that have been made for generations in the district. Annual capacity of the new plant is 1000 tonnes of cheese and 120 tonnes of butter. Last year the coop achieved a turnover of €7m.