In the last five years, the livestock sector of Lanzarote, driven by the demand for goat cheese, has experienced a strong development and has potential to continue growing and generating jobs.
Veterinarian Omar Alejandro Viña Melián, president of the Federation of Agricultural and Fisheries Associations and of the Association of Artisanal Cheese Factories, as well as co-owner of Quesería El Faro, breaks down the transformation of the sector, as well as its opportunities and challenges, in an interview with Ekonomus.
"The livestock world of Lanzarote can incorporate many workers"
- Many young people rule out dedicating themselves to livestock farming because they consider it a very hard and low-profitability job, what would you say to them?
People imagine that they will have to work from sun to sun, that they will not have days off... In reality, livestock employees have 30 days of vacation, eight-hour days and two days off a week. In cheese factories, the days off are on weekends, and on farms they are rotating, in order to feed the animals every day.
The livestock sector has modernized a lot, we have milking machines and cold tanks, which allow us to store the milk so that it does not have to be processed every day. After feeding the animals you can go home. Mechanization has greatly improved the life of the farmer.
"Whoever produces milk, will sell it"
In fact, until the crisis of the pandemic and the war in Ukraine, which produced a 70% increase in raw materials, young people were joining livestock farming in Lanzarote as entrepreneurs. Last year this distortion was corrected with subsidies from the Cabildos and the Government of the Canary Islands. This distortion continues this year and we hope that it will also be solved via subsidies. We hope it will be something specific.
- What job opportunities are there today in livestock farming in Lanzarote, both for employees and for entrepreneurs who want to have their own company?
The livestock world of Lanzarote is quite broad and can incorporate many workers. We have a very, very large deficit of employees and we have the capacity to grow.
In the past, more or less 80% of the milk from Lanzarote was taken to Fuerteventura to make cheese. Right now it's only 20%. And not only that, we are bringing milk from Fuerteventura. The roles have been reversed, hence the optimism, in just five or six years we have seen brutal changes in the livestock sector in Lanzarote. Goat milk production in Lanzarote is already higher than in La Palma, El Hierro, La Gomera and almost certainly more than in Tenerife.
- I understand then that there are also opportunities to start a business?
Livestock farming in Lanzarote allows you to dedicate yourself 100% without the need for other income, unlike agriculture. In livestock farming right now there is a deficit in milk production. Whoever produces it will sell it and the same happens with cheese. In December there was a brutal shortage of cheese on the shelves, even from the large cheese companies in the Canary Islands.
"There is no supermarket in the Canary Islands that does not have local cheese"
Here, the more cheese is produced, the more it is sold. There is a brutal consumption and that is without counting that we have Europe right next door and cheese could be exported, but the truth is that most companies do not have the capacity to sell abroad.
- How much does the dairy sector of Lanzarote invoice per year?
Here up to 900,000 kilos of cheese are produced, which is equivalent to more than 10 million euros in turnover if we count the farmers of Lanzarote who sell milk in Fuerteventura. There are currently 12 cheese factories on the island, but there is room for many more. Here there are many places to sell and you can sell to the other islands, there is a transport subsidy.
The consumption of goat cheese is brutal in the Canary Islands. Supermarkets have understood that they have to give it a main place on their shelves. There is no supermarket or small town store that does not have local cheese.
- What would you say to a young person who does not have a job and is considering working in livestock farming? How can you prepare?
The problem we have to start an activity from scratch is that the Insular Plan of Ordination of Lanzarote (PIOL) of 1991 limits the creation of new farms. The best thing would be to look for an exploitation that is already made and lease it. I would tell him first to go to the livestock associations like ours and we will explain the options that exist. On the Cabildo's farm they also have an area where they can ask for information on how to start.
"There are all-inclusive hotels that put 'Lanzarote cheese' when we know it's not from here"
As for training, in the municipality of Teguise there is an institute that offers it. I know quite a few young people who have come out of there, quite well trained, although there is a lot of training missing at the level of the other institutions.
- How does the livestock sector feel with respect to public administrations?
It is necessary for farmers to feel protected by the institutions. Until now we have had it quite complicated. Millions of euros are spent to promote and they take the photo with the primary sector, but there is no real promotion of the sector.
For example, the hotels in Lanzarote buy almost everything outside, by price, sometimes it is for a euro or a euro and a half. We should look for a way to encourage these hoteliers to acquire local products. If campaigns were focused mainly on the consumption of local kilometer zero products, the situation of the primary sector in Lanzarote could be greatly improved.
- The new tourism law of the Balearic Islands, approved in 2022, obliges tourist establishments to include 3% of local product among their gastronomic offer. For 4 and 5 star hotels it is 4% and for agritourism it is 5%. Could something similar be done here?
It would be great. In the same way that administrations make agreements with tour operators, offer lower taxes, provide facilities to enter the island, negotiate a new connection... they could also talk to hoteliers so that they consume local products. We have quality products and they can be sold at a good price.
"We could produce twice or even three times as much"
It is necessary, because we sometimes find all-inclusive hotels that put 'Lanzarote cheese' when we know it is not from here. It's not that they told me, I've seen it. That there were instruments to penalize this type of fraudulent activities, would already be a way to encourage them to consume real local product. With the hotels that there are in Lanzarote, I assure you that there are not enough cheese factories, and that is without counting the restoration.
- What percentage of the cheese produced in Lanzarote is sold outside?
The 12 cheese factories that are in Lanzarote sell almost everything on the island, the only ones that sell to the other islands are us that sell 40% here and the rest to the other islands. Almost nothing reaches the peninsula and the rest of Europe.
- Would you have the capacity to grow if the conditions were right and sell to all of Europe?
We have the capacity to grow. In all of the Canary Islands there is a brutal potential for growth in the livestock issue, I can say that with my eyes closed.
In Lanzarote an average of 16,000 liters of milk are produced daily, but we have the capacity to produce much more. All that is needed is investment to modernize the farms. We could produce twice or even three times as much just with the existing farms.
- Where should that investment come from?
There are several factors. First, the farmer feels protected, that he feels that he can sell his products at a good price. Then the investment has to come partly from the private sector and partly from the public sector. In Fuerteventura the Cabildo offers subsidies every year for the modernization of farms, here we do not have them.