Ana and Vicente opened a cheese shop in Arrecife 4 months ago. Among their objectives is to make the end consumer aware of "the origin and history" of the product they buy, and to promote the consumption of artisan cheese. Among their upcoming projects, next October they will launch a network of small-scale Canarian cheese factories in Madrid.
"Since we opened, we have been creating a network of Canarian cheese factories that supply us every month. We know the artisans we work with very well and that is essential to convey the history of each production to the end consumer," explain these young people.
They argue that today a large part of the Canarian cheese that leaves the islands "belongs to large cheese factories, which are usually the only ones that have the opportunity and the facilities to export." "Good Canarian cheese is exported, but we want to go further. Artisan cheese is living culture, many of the cheeses we work with have been passing through the hands of many generations of cheesemakers. Bringing these small productions is bringing an authentic product that is deeply rooted in the Canary Islands, and people like that. From Queso Project we want Juan José's cheese from El Hierro, made in Valverde with his 75 goats, Yolanda's cheese from Fontanales or Toni's cheese made in La Palma, among others, to reach Madrid," they explain.
A "huge effort" by small artisans
To this end, in the coming weeks they will go to the peninsula, where they have explained that they already have "potential clients who have shown interest in the project." "If the project succeeds, the protagonists, the cheesemakers, will succeed. We believe that in the Canary Islands the excellent quality of its small-scale artisan cheeses does not correspond to the low price they have on the market."
In this sense, they explain that "most of the cheesemakers are also farmers and invest a huge effort for the final value of the product." "We know cheesemakers who are competing in prices with large productions and that has to change, the end consumer must know how to differentiate between an artisan product and a product that is not," they defend.
In addition, they point out that the "vast majority" of their clients set the cost price and "mark the future of the market", something with which they disagree. "Our philosophy is based on the fact that the producer is always the protagonist, we tell their story and they serve us when they can and decide the price." In this sense, they add that some of these producers are "on the verge of disappearing" due to the low price at which they can sell.
"If a small business can promote it, what can't be done from the institutions"
"The situation is different depending on each island, in Lanzarote and Fuerteventura cheese is easier to sell, however in some villages on the summit of Gran Canaria things are different. If an artisan cheese factory disappears, part of our tradition disappears. The project of the network of small-scale artisan cheese factories arises to try, from our small position, to support these cheese factories that are in this situation, they assure"
According to Ana and Vicente, their clients in Madrid are looking for "precisely what a supermarket doesn't want, seasonality and limited production", characteristics of these artisan elaborations "with great roots in the Canarian tradition." "If things go well, we can demonstrate that if a small business can promote the consumption of artisan cheese from a handful of small cheese factories, what can't be done from public institutions to promote the consumption of Canarian artisan cheese outside our borders."
