From Research to Production: The Sheep’s Milk Graviera of Voio with Propionic Culture

The result of the partnership between GAIA EPICHEIREIN, Agricultural Livestock Cooperative of Voio, Kozani, and the Agricultural University of Athens

The results of the experimental production of ‘Graviera Pro’, a sheep’s milk graviera cheese that belongs to the Emmental-type or Swiss-type cheeses and is based on propionic microorganisms, were presented at a seminar in Neapolis, Kozani, on March 13th.

Producers interested in the developments of the Common Agricultural Policy and new dairy production solutions attended the event and were informed about Measure 16 ‘COOPERATION’, as well as the transition to the new interventions of the 2023-2027 CAP Strategic Plan, by representatives of GAIA EPICHEIREIN.

The Speakers

Associate Professor in the Laboratory of Dairy Research of the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the Agricultural University of Athens, Ekaterini Moschopoulou, and Lampros Sakkas, postdoctoral researcher in the same laboratory, presented new approaches to dairy production, with an emphasis on the production of graviera cheese in the Kozani region.

The seminar was held in the framework of the approved pilot project of the ‘GRAVIERA PRO’ Business Group. The members of the Operational Group include the Laboratory of Dairy Research of the Agricultural University of Athens, the Agricultural Livestock Cooperative of Voio, Kozani, and GAIA EPICHEIREIN as the coordinating body of the project.

Improved Organoleptic Characteristics

The aim of this specific business plan is to create a new type of ‘Graviera’ cheese for the Agricultural Livestock Cooperative of Voio, Kozani. This cheese will have improved organoleptic characteristics and enhanced biofunctional properties through the addition of propionic culture and other probiotic microorganisms as regulatory cultures. The proposed Business Plan is expected to increase the utilization of sheep’s and goat’s milk produced in the region and expand the cooperative’s range of dairy products.

Diversification

According to Professor Moschopoulou, “the goal is for the graviera cheese with propionic and probiotic microorganisms to be added as an additional product to the cooperative’s range”. She emphasized that it is different, because “it has holes, a sweeter taste, and is made only from sheep’s milk”. Essentially, the product offers increased organoleptic and quality characteristics.

Dr Sakkas spoke at the event, about “the pilot project carried out at the dairy of the Voio Cooperative in partnership with the Laboratory for Dairy Research of the Agricultural University of Athens, aimed at producing sheep’s milk graviera cheese with propionic culture”.

What is Measure 16?

Nikolas Papakonstantinou, Director of Agricultural Development and Project Management at GAIA EPICHEIREIN, discussed Measure 16: “It is an instrument of the 2014-2020 CAP, designed to bring stakeholders from the agri-food sector to the “collaboration table”, allowing each party to present their data and for knowledge to be shared between institutions. In other words, the knowledge of universities and companies is transferred to producers, so they can develop innovative products and advance their business or farm in line with the new standards and criteria of the time”.

Finally, Angeliki Lagogianni, a member of the Project Management Department at GAIA EPICHEIREIN, explained that “as GAIA EPICHEIREIN, we are responsible for coordinating the project and disseminating innovation. In 2018, we contacted the Agricultural University of Athens, which had the idea of producing an innovative cheese. We then connected the University with the cooperative and together we formed a business group to promote innovative products in livestock production and to enhance the competitiveness of the Cooperative of Voio in primary production.”