Rodrigo García is the fourth generation of Granja Campomayor, a family business that is revolutionising the egg world in Spain from its headquarters in Ximonde (Palas de Rei-Lugo).

This year a low temperature egg was launched on the market, an innovative product that has received numerous awards, and in 2018 a new line of products will be brought to the market, which are linked to an ambitious R+D+I project.

The aim is to give more value added to a product that is in fashion, as is the egg, and where more 600,000 units leave Granja Campomayor’s premises every day.

-What are the large numbers of Granja Campomayor today?
At present approximately 600,000 eggs leave our premises every day. We employ more than 50 people and turnover in 2016 came to 16 million euros. This year we hope to exceed this figure.

– What kind of products do you have on the market and what is the percentage of their production?
We have a wide range of products in Granja Camapomayor, from the traditional egg, the free range egg, the organic egg and the specialities: the Omega3 egg, the delicatessen egg, the truffle egg is a quail egg, and also including the egg products (egg derivatives) as well as pasteurised liquid yolks, pasteurised liquid egg whites and pasteurised whole eggs, as well as boiled eggs and the eggs cooked at low temperature.

-Where are your main markets? Are you exporting?
Our main markets are Galicia, Asturias, Madrid, in general all over the north of the Peninsula. We do not export a lot due to the product’s specifications, as it is sensitive and has a relatively short best before date. This explains why we only export some liquid egg to Portugal.

-Two years ago we set up the pasteurisation plant, one of the most modern in Europe. What balance do you make of this project two years later?
From Granja Campomayor we see that pasteurised liquid egg is increasingly becoming more popular, especially for bakeries and catering companies, as it is a very clean product that has a longer useful life than egg in a shell.

In addition, it is a product that provides them with security as it is analysed in our laboratories, and saves on time and labour. We produce whole egg, yolk and egg white that are pasteurised separately in different formats. The pasteurised liquid egg is a product that despite being on the market for many years, is still a great unknown among the general public but is required by the regulations and in catering they are being cooked at less than 65º.

Pasteurised liquid egg is increasingly becoming more popular”

Taking stock of the past two years we can see many customers that are satisfied with a product that makes their daily work easier and has all the quality guarantees. We also see that some customers who were reluctant to use this type of product, but that on trying our pasteurised liquid egg say they do not want to go back to the traditional egg in a shell, as it works for them in exactly the same way.

-The European consumer calls for increasing animal welfare. How do you deal with this issue in Granja Campomayor?
It is true that the consumer is increasingly thinking more about animal welfare and sustainable agriculture. We are focusing more and more on the production of free range and ecological eggs because we are seeing that this is what our customers are demanding.-

-What is your birds’ feed like? Do you have your own feed factory?
Our hens feed is changed according to needs, depending on the hen’s stage of life, from the moment it is a chick until it reaches maturity and becomes a laying hen.

We buy our raw materials and a trusted company is in charge of carrying out all the grinding process and distributing the feed to each of our centres. Our feed is mainly composed of cereals and legumes: corn, wheat, soy bean, sunflower and some vitamins such as calcium carbonate.

-The organic sector is also increasingly taking a market share in Spain. Are you planning to enter into this type of production?
We are currently a partner with farms in this type of breeding. We sell a normal organic egg (M-L size) and also the gourmet selection, size L, which is selected and packaged by hand. We plan to set up some own organic farms in the immediate future.

“We plan to set up some own organic farms in the immediate future.”

-This year you launched the low temperature egg. Tell us what it consists of, what type of audience it is aimed at and how it is working in the market.
This year we launched a new production line that consists of the industrial processing and marketing of low temperature eggs, mainly for restaurants and catering. Our innovative egg is cooked at a low temperature made with eggs from hens at a particular laying stage and a specific weight. The production process requires a thorough control of the temperature, both when cooking and cooling.

The low temperature egg is cooked in its own shell. And this achieves a solidified egg white, with a creamy look and a liquid and creamy yolk. On cutting the egg, the yolk oozes out slowly, providing it with an inimitable flavour and texture. It is a very healthy, natural egg, as it is cooked with no oils.

The low temperature egg is a new product on the market, which makes work easier for the catering sector, given its complex and thorough cooking process, saving time and obtaining homogeneity. This year we received numerous prizes that awarded the innovation of our already cooked and ready to eat egg.

-Can you tell us about some of the other R+D+I projects that you are working on?
It is true that we are immersed in a very ambitious R+D+I project, but much to my regret I still can’t tell you much more about it. We look forward to be able to provide you with some more news in the near future. In 2018 we hope to launch a new line of products linked to the R+D+I project.

-Do you have plans to open new farms, and in which locations?
Yes, we are going to open up new organic and free range farms over the next few years, but it is still too early to determine the locations.

-The egg sector has been growing in recent years. What do you attribute this recovery of consumption?
A few years ago the egg was a product that was rejected because it was believed that it helped to increase cholesterol, made you put on weight, etc. However, today and after numerous investigations it is considered a superfood, the most complete food that there is after milk. This way, it helps to maintain a healthy weight, develops the brain and memory, looks after the immune system, bones, teeth and helps to keep skin and sight healthy. Even today the most prestigious chefs use eggs as the main element of their preparations.

“In the next few years consumption trends will move towards a healthy product and animal welfare”

-Where do you think egg consumption trends will go in the coming years?
I believe that in the next few years consumption trends will go towards the healthy product and animal welfare, in fact we are already noticing this trend from the consumer.

We also note the increased consumption in pasteurised liquid egg white, due to diets in people who want to look after themselves. A product with a lot of protein and with no fat that offers many cooking possibilities.

We invite consumers to try Granja Campomayor eggs because we firmly believe that not all eggs are equal and the difference is very clear. We can offer this egg with an orange-coloured egg yolk, with an unforgettable texture and flavour, reminiscent of the eggs our grandparents ate. When you try them, we are sure you will repeat!

Productos de Granja Campomayor

The Nairoa winery, located in the valley of the river Arnoia, is one of the Ribeiro wineries that is flying the flag for Treixadura, the dominant variety of the denomination of origin. The company has four blends on the market with Treixadura as a reference and in 2018 will launch a single-varietal wine from this grape. “This is a variety that brings distinction and elegance to the wines” – Nairoa’s director, Guillermo Diez states-. “It has now started to be recognised in the wine world and we are gradually putting Treixadura in the place it deserves in the Ribeiro”.

The winery’s main commitment in the market is focused on “Alberte”, a wine that combines 85% Treixadura with 10% of Albariño and 5% Lado a native grape of the Arnoia region, where the winery is located. “Each grape has certain characteristics, the Lado is a grape that provides freshness to the wine, while Albariño above all provides aromatic components,” stresses Guillermo Diez. “With the assembly of the three varieties, we achieve the wine that we seek which gains in complexity and interest.”

From “Alberte”, the winery annually launches on the market about 60,000 bottles, out of a total of almost 200,000 that it produces each year. “It is a wine that is engaging the attention in international markets, such as the United Kingdom, Mexico, the United States or Sweden, among others We have the capacity for growth, but we are interested in taking care of the quality more than the amount,” says the winery’s director.

Nairoa primarily works with small wine growers of Ribeiro, who maintain a stable relationship of collaboration with the winery, in controlled vineyards where the quality of the grapes is rewarded. The winery opts for autochthonous varieties, which it uses exclusively in its two main brands, the aforementioned Alberte and Val of Nairoa, a blended variety of Treixadura, Albariño, Loureira and Lado with a manufacturing process that includes the freezing of the grape’s skin.

The freezing process, which the winery exclusively uses, consists in putting the grapes in a freezing tunnel before their processing. “With this system we manage to break down the skin structure so that there is a greater contribution of aromas and tannins to the wine. It is a taste that the public looking who is for something different really likes. People who try it usually comment that it reminds them of a wine aged on lees, which is an opinion that I share, or even relate this wine with an aging in barrels, when it does not have any of these processes”, explains Guillermo Diez.

Awards
The characteristics of Val of Nairoa earned it 90 points in the prestigious International Robert Parker Guide. The winery has received many awards in recent years, although the one that they most proudly display is the first prize in the Popular Wine Tasting of the Feira do Ribeiro 2016. “It is a blind tasting where consumers taste the different wines and choose which they like best. The awards that a specialist jury give us are important, but this award is unique as it is given by consumers, and this especially excites us”, recognises Guillermo Diez.

The offer of the winery’s whites is completed with two mid-range wines, Val de Couso and Nairoa, which combines a base of Treixadura with a percentage of authorised Ribeiro varieties, such as Torrontes. “In certain markets, these are the wines that are of most interest. We find for example that in Japan, Nairoa is the wine that best works”, they tell us at the winery.

The main market share of the winery is located in Galicia, with around 60% of sales, while 25% of its wine is sold in the rest of Spain and 15% at international level. With regards to the Spanish market, in Nairoa they highlight the prestige that Galician white wines have attained, a recognition where the seals of the Galician denominations of origin contribute as, in the case of Nairoa, as well the Galicia Calidade seal, which is already recognised and valued by the consumer.

Projects
The winery is working on the launch of new wines on the market. One of the most immediate is the single varietal wine of Treixadura, which will be expected to go on sale next April. “The market erroneously calls for the new vintages too quickly, but we think that the ideal time to launch Ribeiro wines is not before March-April,” said Guillermo Diez-. “In fact, one of our wines, the Val of Nairoa, is even a second year wine, not a young wine,” he remarks.

Another of Nairoa hopes is a white on lees, which it has been evaluating for a couple of years and will be bottled under the Alberte brand. While the winery has clearly opted for white wines, it also sells a blended red wine called “Terralonga” and will complete its offer of red wines with the launch in 2018 of an “Alberte” red wine, which will be made with a blend of Mencia and Brancellao.

A Parada das Bestas, a former 18th century Galician farmhouse, today is a benchmark for hospitality and gastronomy in Galicia. Located in the village of Pidre, in the town council of Palas de Rei, and at the foot of the Camino de Santiago, it is one of 44 tourist establishments that have recently joined the Galicia Calidade seal.

The aim is to certify hotel establishments that clearly commit to agri-food products endorsed by the Galicia Calidade distinction, by including and promoting them on their menus.

“Our commitment to kilometre zero and seasonal products was clear from our inception, supporting agricultural and livestock farmers in the area, and as the Galicia Calidade seal shares our philosophy that is why we decided to join this initiative”, explains Maria Varela, co-owner of this rural tourism guest house, together with her husband, Suso Santiso.

“We are committed to kilometre zero and seasonal food and the Galicia calidade seal shares our philosophy”

Therefore their sought after restaurant serves veal and beef from small livestock farms in the A Ulloa region, organic cheeses, yoghurt and milk from Arqueixal, infusions from Milhulloa, eggs from Pazo de Vilane or Granja Campomayor or a wide selection of Galician wines. “We are trying to serve genuine cuisine, taking advantage of the many opportunities our products provide, and during the mushroom or hunting season we also include them on our menu,” says Maria Varela, responsible for the kitchen that has earned her a prestigious place in the new Galician cuisine.

And of course, the bread from Palas or from the Antas de Ulla is not missing from the table, authentic delicacies prepared in a wood oven and with Galician wheat.

Suso is largely responsible for the vegetable garden products; he was born in Bilbao and has emigrant parents from Palas de Rei who in 1992, when he was just 24 years old, decided to leave lorry driving and bought a rambling, run-down manor house in the village of Pidre.

Maria Varela joined him to build up this dream of a rural tourism guest house. “I came from the Basque Country, where at that time rural tourism guest houses were in full swing, and I came to this area, where there was still nothing, and I saw the enormous potential that it had,” he explains.

Initially they began breeding horses to hire them out for rides in the region, and hence the name of “Parada das Bestas”. “We wanted to live in the country with our animals and our vegetable garden. We were young, we were in love and wanted to start a business and a life in common,” says Maria Varela. “We were very self-taught and one thing led to another: the horses led us to start serving food and drink and in September 1997 we opened the restored house to the public,” adds Suso.

Today, and following several acquisitions and extensions, A Parada das Bestas consists of three main buildings: the main house, the hay barn and oven drying area, and two annexes: the hórreo (raised granary) and one of the few wheat sheaths (where the wheat used to be separated from the chaff) that is still preserved in Galicia.

For accommodation, the main house offers 7 double rooms equipped with bathroom and heating, two of them with jacuzzi baths, to which must be added the four apartments (three double and one single).

The surroundings of this rural tourism guest house offer an opportunity to enjoy nature on the banks of the river Ulla, and representative monuments of Galician history: the Pazos de Ulloa, where Emilia Pardo Bazán set her novel, Romanesque churches such as that of Vilar de Donas or the Castle of Pambre.

The boosting effect that this rural tourism guest house has on the local economy is seen in the employment: during the high season, between Easter and the beginning of October, A Parada das Bestas employs between 6 and 7 people, while in the winter season this drops to 3.

“Administrations should get more involved so that young people can come to the country to live and work,”

“Our guests change according to the season: during the summer there are very international customers, linked to the Camino de Santiago, and that want to stay and enjoy something authentic and different, and at the weekend we have more Galician guests, with people who come to dine at our house,” explains Suso Santiso.

In this sense, a decisive boost for making known A Parada das Bestas was Gwyneth Paltrow’s visit and the Xacobeo of 1999. “A place in the middle of nowhere,” the actress literally wrote on referring to A Parada das Bestas as a paradise for gastronomy and peace. Her stay in the house and the subsequent publication in a book of what she had felt in Pidre was an endorsement for the establishment in Palas de Rei.

 “What encourages us the most is the contact with our guests”

However, Suso underlines that “all customers are equal for us”. “The vast majority of people who visit us are anonymous people, who want discretion and to have a good time,” he stresses.

In fact, asked what has encouraged them over the years, María and Suso responds that “without a doubt, the contact with our guests.” “It is something wonderful to achieve that people visit us from all over the world, and which has opened the doors to many places,” confesses Suso.

A wish for the future?: “That good people continue to visit us and that the Administrations really get involved so that young people can come and live in the country, to provide life to our countryside.”

The Altos de Torona vineyard, located in Vilachan (Tomiño, Pontevedra), is unique in the panorama of Galician viticulture, identified by smallholdings. There are nearly a hundred hectares in a single estate, making it the largest vineyard in the Rias Baixas. The plot was planted around 2000, after the HGA group completed the purchase of private land and an agreement with a forestry community.

The location of the vineyard, located mid-slope, about 200-300 metres above sea level, is south facing and next to the mouth of the river Miño, and was thought to be suitable for wine production. Time is confirming the potential of the vineyard, as international awards have been forthcoming in the past few years.

The estate was mainly planted with Albariño, although the decision was also taken to maintain the distinguishing sign of the wines of the sub-zone of O Rosal (DO Rías Baixas), characterised by the use of other varieties of white grapes. The Altos de Torona Rosal 2013, an Albariño that includes small percentages of Loureiro and Caiño Blanco, was distinguished as being the best white in Spain at the International Wine Challenge 2014, one of the most important competitions at international level.

“Altos de Torona Rosal is a fruity wine, with a sweet touch and a soft palate that makes it different from the traditional 100% Albariños”

“Altos de Torona Rosal is a fruity wine, with a sweet touch and a soft palate that makes it different from the traditional 100% Albariños” they explain at the winery.

The 2017 edition of the International Wine Challenge, which is held in London, gave another six awards to Altos de Torona, the most important being the gold medal for Altos de Torona Albariño 2016, a young 100% Albariño grown on the Vilachan estate, in Tomino.

Another of the company’s Albariños is Pazo de Villarei, produced from grapes that are bought from Salnés winegrowers who had already been regularly working with that brand.

Markets
The winery is characterised by offering a wide range of wines, in search of different types of consumers and restaurant markets. The result of this concern to innovate is the Albariños in French oak barrels and on lees. One of the first 100% Godellos of Rias Baixas was also theirs and they also produce red wines from the Brancellao, Sousón and Caiño Tinto varieties.

“The Altos de Torona Barrel, 100% Albariño has a reduced production (1,500 bottles), but there are consumers who are beginning to ask for whites from the barrel. We can produce these minority wines because we have a winery and a team ready for these innovations,” Oscar Martínez emphasizes.

Altos de Torona sells about half of its production in Galicia, while the rest is distributed among other areas of Spain and for export. “The growth potential of Albariño and our winery in particular is immense both in Spain and at international level,” they highlight at the winery, which has the Galicia Calidade seal and that stresses the international prestige attained by the DO Rias Baixas.

HGA Group
Altos de Toronas is owned by the HGA group, with another winery in the Ribeira Sacra denomination of origin, Regina Viarum, which allows it to complement the offering of Rías Baixas Albariño white wines with the Mencias of the Ribeira Sacra. In addition to having two own wineries, Altos de Torona and Regina Viarum, the group also produces wines in other denominations from agreements with various wineries.

Cooperativas Lácteas Unidas (Clun) sets its expectations of increasing the sales of milk and dairy products in international markets and commits to value-added differentiated quality products with the Galicia Calidade seal.

The vast Galician dairy cooperative, which was created in November last year from the integration of Feiraco, Os Irmandiños and Melisanto, expects that exports could amount to 10 % of the total sales this year and increase at a two digit rate in the coming years.

As assured by Pablo Gómez, head of Clun’s dairy products division, who assumed this responsibility after the success achieved in the bailout of Clesa, also owned by the Galician dairy cooperatives.

Clun sets its expectations to China and in differentiated dairy products.

Clun hopes to introduce its Clesa and Unicla brands into the Chinese market this year, and for exports to represent up to 10% of sales.

The cooperative expects to have a 200 million euro turnover, and currently includes some 3,500 partners that produce about 20% of Galician milk. The dairy products division accounts for half of the turnover, with 70 million corresponding to long life products (primarily UHT milk) and 30 million to yoghurts and refrigerated products.

Export is key to Clun’s future

In this sense, Clun’s strategy for its dairy products division is to continue increasing exports outside the European Union in the coming years. Currently Clun has three reference brands: Feiraco, the leading milk brand in Galicia; Unicla, its premium milk, and Clesa, with its wide range of yoghurts and dairy desserts. The sales of these two Unicla and Clesa brands, have had double digit growth in recent years, divided equally between Galicia and the rest of the Spanish market.

However, the main expectations of growth for Clun are outside Spain. “The consumption of milk in Europe is decreasing and data indicates that it will continue to decline, but if we look at the international level, the prospect is that consumption is projected to grow at rates of between 1 and 2% per year,” says Pablo Gómez. “We want to commit to that international market with differentiated dairy products, to reach this growing market is key to our development,” recognises the person responsible for Clun’s dairy division.

China is one of the countries where efforts are concentrated, within Clun’s commitment to international markets. The leap into the Chinese market began to be worked on in 2015 with the opening of an office in Shanghai through the Galician Food Cluster, meaning that a year ago negotiations paid off with an importer in Beijing.

“China is a country with a milk deficit and that very much appreciates a European origin product due to its quality guarantees, and that is why we have great expectations for that market,” explains Pablo Gómez.

In fact, this year Clun plans to expand the range of products sent to China by incorporating the Unicla brand. We are working on innovative packaging for this that allows the life of the products to be extended and to be able to bridge the gap between Galicia and China.

“In the case of Unicla this is a premium UHT milk, with awards for its taste and quality, as well as the high level of animal welfare on the farms that produce it, with them being the only ones certified with ISO 22000; and all this requires an effort to explain this to the consumer of other countries, who I am sure will value this differentiated quality and will allow us to continue increasing sales at a two digit annual rate,” explains Pablo Gómez.

Differentiated products and animal welfare

Another strategic line that Clun is working on is sustainability, in the welfare of its cows and in reducing of its carbon footprint, to be leaders in the sector with regards to respecting and caring for the environment and animal welfare.

Permanent innovation make quality the cornerstone of its commercial brands. Due to this, its products are endorsed by the highest recognition of quality standards: Galicia Calidade, 100% Galician, the ISO Certifications 9001, ISO 22,000 for its farms, and more recently, the AENOR certificate in Animal Welfare, which makes clear its commitment to the care of animals as a fundamental part of the strategy to improve the quality of its milk products.

“We are the only company that has certified farms with seal for animal welfare and additionally in the last few years we have been researching into the development of more ergonomic packaging to reduce its carbon footprint,” he confirms.

The added value of being a cooperative

These two strategic lines -commitment to export and for differentiated products- are complemented with maximising the cooperative nature of Clun.

“For us it is a strength that we are a cooperative and that the partner farmers can reap the benefits and have a return on this commitment to give greater added value to the milk,” he says.

But he also stresses that the cooperative nature of Clun is a strength from a technical point of view. They set the Unicla milk as an example, where “thanks to work with farmers we can directly address innovation and through a differentiated feeding achieve a product with high added value, recognised at international level”. “Feeding- he highlights- that simulates the milk of the green pastures of Galicia, but all year long”.

Bodegas Ruchel is a winery from Vilamartin de Valdeorras that has been in the market for nearly three decades. It started in 1989 with an initial launch 10,000 bottles of Godello, the wine on which the start of the company was focused. From 1998 it also incorporated Mencia and currently it has an production of about 200,000 bottles, more than three quarters are of Godello, the remainder being shared between Mencia and a small production of Garnacha.

The winery is committed to a philosophy of searching for wines “with the aroma of the earth”. “We supply ourselves from vineyards of individual partners and wine growers, but we are looking for them to have a common feature, hillside vineyards on granite or slaty soils, with poor soil,” they tell us in Ruchel-. “We believe that in such conditions, the vine extracts elements from the ground that allow for more aromas of wine in the mouth. They are vineyards with less production, but with more quality,” they value.

“In Valdeorras, everyone has their own philosophy. We try to maintain the tradition of our grandparents, when the vineyard was planted in soil where potatoes could not be grown, that is to say, in soils without humus, with little organic matter”, they point out.

Ranges

Most of the production of the winery is reflected in Godellos and young Mencia, marketed under the brands Ruchel and Ruchel Secretos. The company also seeks to promote a high range, focused on selected and crianza wines.

In Godello, it produces a wine with selected strains that are at least 50 years old. “These are vineyards of which there are few in Valdeorras, because the Godello began to recover from 1980’s. These old vines have a low production but provide a grape with a differentiating characteristics,” they explain. The Godello, which is marketed under the brand name Cueva Baladal, is allowed to rest on the lees and is finished off with a one-month aging in oak barrels.

The Cueva Baladal brand refers to a family cave where, as was common in the region, the wine was preserved in olden times, as these were places that provided a constant temperature. In the future, the winery has also planned to market its Mencia crianza and Garnacha crianza under this brand, in an attempt to position both the white and red wines in a higher segment of the market.

“Godello wine is very round on the palate, with many aromas and became fashionable, but even so, we see that it is a little undervalued, so we are trying to find a way to position it in a higher segment,” they indicate from Ruchel.

The winery’s market focuses both in Galicia and the rest of Spain, with a small part dedicated to being exported to countries such as the United States and Belgium. In its positioning outside of Galicia, the winery benefits from the Galicia Calidade seal, which contributes to the wine being identified with its source, thus achieving greater recognition.

In its positioning outside of Galicia, the winery benefits from the Galicia Calidade seal, which contributes to the wine being identified with its source, thus achieving greater recognition

A Coroa Godello 2016 is well on its way to becoming one of the Galician wines with the most awards this year, both at the national and international level. This single variety wine of the Valdeorras Denomination of Origin which uses ‘reina’ grapes, has just been awarded the Gold Medal at the international wine competition Mundus Vini in Germany and the 2017 Gold Bacchus in the Spanish Bacchus Awards.

“The awards corroborate that our commitment to quality is a good move and should also be the future strategy for the Valdeorras Denomination of Origin,” says Marta Sertaje Nogueira, the person responsible for the exports of Adega A Coroa, a family vineyard that employs 9 people directly and that from 2014 is also part of the Galicia Calidade seal.

Marta Sertaje Nogueira tells us the secrets of this winery that already exports 50% of its production and that made the commitment to quality its sign of identity.

Your A Coroa Godello 2016 is reaping awards in national and international competitions. What is the key to this success?
Our way of working is the same and the variations are due to the different types of weather during that year. In this sense, and despite the fact that 2016 was complicated in weather terms, the experts and the general public liked our wine, in which we put all our dedication. For us it is a pride and reaffirms that our philosophy of committing to quality rather than the quantity is the right thing.

In this sense, you are the only winery of the DO. Valdeorras that limits its production below the maximum allowed by the Regulatory Council. Why do you forego attaining maximum production?
In 2010 the Regulatory Council approved the inclusion of certified wines by controlled production. In this way, if the Regulatory Council right now allows up to 12,500 kg to be harvested per hectare, in Godello wineries like us that are certified in controlled production the maximum allowed is 8,000 kilograms per hectare of vineyard. We were the first winery that started with controlled production in Valdeorras and we remain the only that has taken this up.

For us it was a commitment to quality. We have a relatively young vineyard, our vines have an average of 30 years, and as our philosophy was to obtain quality, we chose to have less production to achieve better bunches of grapes, which is transferred to the wine, and also helps to extend the longevity of the strains and to improve their health status.

Over these years you have been expanding your wine catalogue. What you have on the market right now?
In total we sell some 90,000 bottles per year, of which 75,000 are A Coroa, a blend of Godello grapes from our plots, another 8,000 are A Coroa LÏAS; from 200 Cestos, a Godello from a plot in the sub-area of Bibei, we produce some 6,000 bottles; and we also offer a red wine, Ladeira Vella, from century-old vines of Garnacha Tintorera, from which we market some 1,500 bottles.

Since 2002, when we launched the winery, to 2009 we only had a single brand, A Coroa, and due to customer demand we are expanding our catalogue.

You are also one of the wineries of the Valdeorras Denomination of Origin that sells the most abroad. What are the keys to success in the internationalisation of wines with a small winery like this?
Right now we sell 50% outside Spain, especially to the United States and Puerto Rico, and also in Europe to the Netherlands, UK, Germany and Denmark, among others.

Three or four years ago we saw that Valdeorras and the Godello variety are in fashion. From the start we committed to doing things well and to producing quality wines and we are starting to reap the benefits.

The key to export is hard work, making investments and having continuity. The base part is taking care of the vines and looking after them every day because the wine is made in the vineyard. In our winery we have 4 people who are in the field every day and that is very important so that the strains are in good condition and we can achieve the best bunches of grapes.

Currently you have 16 hectares in production. Do you have any plans to continue increasing the surface area of the vineyard?
We have been able to place our wines in a medium-high level niche market, which was a struggle because in the beginning, when the Godello variety was not very well known, this was difficult.

Three or four years ago we saw that Valdeorras and the Godello variety are in fashion

Our philosophy continues by committing to quality, and the path we have taken so far shows that this was the right thing to do. That is why, at the moment we are going to continue with what we are doing, with controlled production and committed to obtaining the best grapes.

You are a winery that is also committing to wine tourism, which already represents an important part of your sales…
We receive visits and are part both of the Valdeorras Wine Route as well as the Inorde tourist train, set up by the County Council of Ourense. We like to receive visits because, besides the fact that we have a winery with history and unique architecture in the area that is worth visiting, we see that word of mouth from the people that visit us is the best advertising.

That is to say, we found that the visits to the winery are a very important way to promote ourselves and help that our wines to be advertised. We have direct selling in the winery and also through our website. We also send a lot of wine to individuals that place orders from us by phone or email. In this way, direct selling in the winery is growing year by year and now accounts for about 15% of our sales.

You are part of the Galicia Calidade seal. What does this give you?
In 2014 we decided to request to be certified by Galicia Calidade because it provides us with an extra and gives added value to our wines. The Galicia brand sells abroad and is associated with quality and Galicia Calidade carries out external promotions which are very useful for small and medium-sized wineries.

And how do you see the future of the Valdeorras Denomination of Origin?
I believe that the Denomination of Origin’s future is to continue committing to quality, not quantity, and to native varieties, so that Godello and Mencia de Valdeorras are recognosed as being wines that are differentiated and associated with quality. That is what is increasingly creating an interest so that both Galician and external wineries invest in this region.

A Coroa, a winery from the 18th century located on a Roman castro

The A Coroa winery was built around 1750 by a family of A Rua that produced wine to market. The site is called A Coroa, due to the Roman castro on which it stood and that dominated the A Rua valley. After a period of neglect the current owners, Ángel López and Roberto Fernández, bought the property in 1999 with the idea of rebuilding the old winery and starting to produce wine again. It was a reconstruction process using traditional materials such as slate and chestnut wood, and that respected the original architecture, including a spectacular underground cellar that remains intact.

The facilities were inaugurated in 2002 with the philosophy right from the start, which was to develop high-quality wines by committing to own production and the native Godello variety. “We have 20 hectares, of which 16 are in production, divided into 9 plots in the Valdeorras region and it allows us to take advantage of different soil types and micro-climates,” says Marta Sertaje.

“We have 9 vineyards spread across the different sub-areas of the DO to take advantage of the different micro-climates and soils”

In this way, the plots vary between those located in the sub-area of the River Sil, where slate soils predominate, while in the sub-area of the Bibei the soils are granite and with more altitude, which allows different wines to be produced, with more minerals, and more marked acidity due to the high altitude. In this sub-area in Lentellais, in the town council of O Bolo, a granite area was where the A Coroa winery acquired a 1.5 hectare vineyard four years ago. In one part, on the Property called 200 Cestos (200 Baskets), as this was what it produced, is where this ‘vino de pago’ is made from Godello vines that are between 60 and 70 years old, while the other part of the plot there are abandoned terraces that were recovered and replanted.

They also have a plot, O Rasedo, with hundred-year old vines of Garnacha Tintorera, which produce some 1,400 bottles of “A Coroa Ladeira Vella”, a unique wine with an important structure and 14 degrees of alcohol.

A 100% Galician meat, which is more marbled, juicier and tastier, with a special touch provided by the chestnuts. These are the characteristics that define Coren’s Selecta Range, from pigs that are fed with chestnuts and that, since its market launch in 2012, has been a great success among consumers.

Coren’s Selecta Range is the result of an R&D project based on three pillars: a breed selected to facilitate fat marbling, traditional rearing with maximum animal welfare and food based on chestnuts, essential to achieve the best flavour of the meat.

Coren’s productive reorientation towards differentiated high quality, value-added products is reflected in the Strategic Plan for the Selecta Range 2016-2018. The objective of the cooperative from Ourense is to ensure that the production of the Selecta Range pork in 2018 reaches more than 22.8 million kilos. The forecasts with regard to the ham is to next year sell more than 208,000 units and some 377,000 kilograms of Selecta ‘Lacon’ (pork shoulder).

“Kuri Buta” or Selecta Range pork has already been widely introduced into Japan

In 2016 Coren sold more 12 million kilos of Selecta meat that year, a product covered by the Galicia Quality (Galicia Calidade) seal. Selecta sales are primarily concentrated in Spain and Japan, together with other European and Asian markets. And this is because the Kuri Buta, the name give to Selecta there, has been widely introduced into Japan, among other markets such as China.

Rearing with the maximum well-being is fundamental in this range, since in order to achieve the best flavour of the meat, it is essential that the animals are reared stress-free. For this reason, Selecta Range pigs are reared with all the farmers’ care and go out into the Galician fields, in a peaceful environment.

Toys, music and reared without stress to achieve a tastier meat

The farms have toys (balls, tree trunks, teethers…), classical music and other amenities. Thanks to this rearing the production of cortisol, the stress hormone, is reduced and hormones are generated that raise the levels of well-being, which in the end, leads to a tastier meat.

But, without a doubt, the key to the success of this range lies in the feeding of the pigs with Galician chestnuts. The pigs enjoy a completely natural feed based on Galician chestnuts, thus recovering the tradition of Galicia, where pigs were fed with chestnuts during the months prior to their slaughter, which gave a special flavour to the meat.

For 2017 Coren has purchased more than 3,000 tons of chestnut, 50% more than last year

Chestnuts that are destined to feed the Selecta pigs come entirely from Galicia. They are collected during the season and then go through a peeling and cooking process, to prevent the bitterness of the peel and facilitate their digestibility. Subsequently they are frozen, so that they can be preserved, and can be available to feed the pigs throughout the year, maintaining their nutritional properties intact. In 2017 the Coren group signed an agreement with Alibos, one of the main companies that collect and process chestnuts in Galicia, to supply it with more than 3,000 tons of chestnut, destined to feed the pigs, which represents 50% more than in 2016.

All of these factors – traditional rearing without stress, with music and toys, and chestnut-based food – contribute to the pigs enjoying a happy rearing,” the Galician cooperative highlights. “This is reflected in the end product, as a more tender, juicier and tastier meat is obtained”, they highlight.

Coren assures that “from the first moment of its market launch in 2012, Selecta meat has been a success among consumers, who value the juiciness due the marbling of the meat and the special flavour, with a slightly sweet taste, thanks to the feed with chestnuts”.

“This meat is juicier with a slightly sweet taste, thanks to the chestnut-based feed”

The fresh Selecta range has a wide variety of products: sirloin, tenderloin, shoulder cuts, pork fillet, rib…, which give an excellent result in any preparation, especially on the griddle or grilled.

Meanwhile, among the cured products are included ‘Lacon’ (pork shoulder) and ham. The Selecta Lacon is prepared in a traditional way. Its provenance from pigs that are selected and fed with chestnuts that provide marbling fat, makes them juicier and gives them a special flavour. Due to its texture, flavour and excellent results when cooking, it is ideal to prepare the typical stews of Galicia in autumn and winter, especially on occasions such as the ‘magostos’ (traditional feast with chestnuts) or carnivals.

Meat from pigs fed with chestnuts has healthier fatty acids and higher levels of antioxidants”

In the meantime, the Selecta Ham is cured for 18 months using an artisan process in the drying-barns of the Coren Group in Lugo, where the temperature and humidity conditions that traditionally cured hams in the Galician houses are reproduced, thus helping to achieve the best aroma that, together with its characteristic marbling and the right point of curing, allow a ham to be obtained in the market, which has a different and unique flavour.

In this sense, from Coren they highlight that “the nutritional studies of the hams from pigs fed with chestnuts show that have higher levels of healthy fatty acids such as the mono and polyunsaturated ones, and higher levels of antioxidants, which results in a better quality and taste of the product”.

In addition, the Selecta Ham was recognised with the Superior Taste Award which is convened by the International Institute of Taste and Quality of Brussels; as well as with the Gold Medal for the Competition of Quality of Hams of the IFFA fair in Germany.

Nor-Ibérica de Bebidas (Maside, Ourense), is specialised in the production of Galician spirits and liqueurs, and is one of the companies in the sector to have committed to giving Galician distillated spirits prestige. Its offer has two brands as quality benchmarks, Felipe Saavedra and Marquis of Marialva, covered by the Galician Spirits and Liqueurs Regulator, which last year also obtained, the Galicia Calidade seal.

The production of the liqueurs marketed with both brands is characterised by the care taken with the product. The base is a spirit distilled from the marc of Galician grapes, which is macerated in cold for 90 days with 100% natural Colombian coffee, in the case of the coffee liqueur, or with a combination of 36 herbs, obtained from the Allariz area (Ourense), in the case of the herbal liqueur. Then sugar, with a minimum of 100 grams per litre, in accordance with the rules of the Regulatory Board, completes the preparations and provides them with their characteristic sweet taste.

“The problem abroad is that they do not know about Galician liqueurs. Italian grappa has a positioning that we lack”

Juan Carlos Saavedra heads up Nor-Iberica de Ibérica, and has worked in the denomination of origin wine sector since the mid-1980s, a facet he has complemented with the production of distilled spirits for more than a decade. “We can define Nor-Ibérica de Bebidas as an industrial distillery that looks after the product in a traditional way,” he values.

Volumes
The company handles a stock of around 200,000 litres, of which 10% corresponds to products covered by the Geographical Indication for Traditional Galician Spirits and Liqueurs. “They are liqueurs that are widely accepted, especially in the communities of the Cantabrian Coast, and of which we can boast of their exceptional quality,” says Saavedra.

Outside Spain, Nor-Ibérica de Bebidas has tested markets in Germany, Switzerland and Japan, by attending international trade fairs and investing in commercial work, although the results have been limited for the time being.

“The problem abroad is that they do not know about our products. Italian grappa, for example, has a international positioning that we lack, but it is like a dog biting it’s own tail. We do not sell liqueurs abroad that are covered by the Regulatory Board because there is no promotion, but there is no money for that promotion because we do not sell,” explains the manager of Nor-Ibérica de Bebidas.

The same situation also partly affects the Spanish market, where Galician liqueurs have to compete in price in the majority of the communities, with the paradigmatic case of Madrid, with regards to the German herbal liqueur, the Jägermeister, selling around 1.5 million litres a year in Spain, with a positioning oriented at the nightlife scene with an audience of under 40.

To join together to produce a quality, authentic wine, with 100% Albariño grapes and at affordable prices. Using this philosophy six family wineries in O Salnés, the cradle of the Denomination of Origin Rías Baixas, joined together in 2015 with their 60 hectares of vineyards to form the company Bodegas Terra de Asorei SL, with the aim of being more competitive and selling Albariños outside Galicia that are proud of being Galician.

The values of this innovative winery are summarised in the logo of their unique wine more, which contains the text of a symbolic poem of six A’s: A of Albariño, Adegas, Asorei, Art, Authenticity and with ‘Amor’ (love).

“We want our three wines that we produce jointly
-Terra de Asorei, Nai e Señora and Pazo Torrado- –
to be a gourmet product, which convey the essence
of Galicia around the world, but at affordable prices that allow them enjoyed by all customers,” explains Xosé Ramón Durán, “Roque”, president and chief executive officer of the Board of Directors, a work that he coordinates with his profession as a journalist.

Targets that were more than met, with around 400,000 bottles that came out of the winery in 2016, located in Meis a town council in Pontevedra, in the heart of the Salnés.

Three types of wine for every occasion

The three wines Terras de Asorei has on the market are made using “networking”, with grapes from the vineyards of the six wineries. “Our market strategy is to offer Albariños with a clear commitment: to transmit the values of the company, the sensations of our land, and all this with the maximum quality and at reasonable prices,” adds Roque Durán.

In this way, “Terra de Asorei” is an Albariño aimed at the Horeca market, fermented at 16ºC for 21 days in stainless steel tanks and with three months of aging on lees. The name of this wine and the winery is a tribute to Francisco Asorei, the famous Galician sculptor born in Cambados and considered as one of the most important Galician artists of the 20th century.

“70% of our consumers are abroad and we want to convey the sensations of Galicia to them with our wines”

“Pazo Torrado” is more geared to food chains, a young wine that pays tribute to one of the most emblematic architectural monuments of the town of Cambados, the Pazo do Torrado, destined to one day be the headquarters of the Regulatory Board of the Denomination of Origin Rías Baixas.

And “Nai e señora” is designed to search for new markets for this 100% Albariño that follows traditional productions methods in the valley of Salnés. Through its name it pays homage to the Galician women, who forged the identity of the Galician people.

The export already exceeds 35% of its Market

Right now, the Albariños of this winery are present in 11 international markets that represent around 35% of total sales, while the Galician market has sales of 30% and the remaining 35% is sold in other parts of Spain.

The main external market of the Albariño from Bodegas Terra de Asorei is the United Kingdom, followed by the United States, Holland and Ireland. It has also increased its sales in Poland, Russia, Japan and Puerto Rico and are negotiations are taking place to introduce it into Sweden and Norway.

“Our goal for the next few years is to continue growing in a sustained and sustainable manner, adjusting the production of our vineyards and marketing, to obtain 50% of sales at international level,” says the president and chief executive officer of the Board of Directors.

Commitment to Galicia Qulaity (Galicia Calidade): a perfect pairing

“Right now 70% of our sales are already outside Galicia, and we want every person to experience the sensations associated with our land every time they open one of our wines and what we want to transmit as a company is: quality, nature, authenticity and people who keep their word”, Xosé Ramón Durán.

This wish that its wines be all over the world as Galicians led Bodegas Terras of Asorei to join the Galicia Quality (Galicia Calidade) seal in March 2016. “For us Galicia Quality is a perfect pairing with our wines because it conveys our values as a company that is continuously improving in quality and to show the rest of the world who we are,” he stresses.

Within the commitment of this winery for excellence, in addition to the controls of origin and quality of the Rías Baixas Regulatory Board, in February 2016 they also attained ISO 9001 Quality Management and ISO 14001 for Environmental Management.

Future projects: Wine tourism, new technologies, and to increase production

The future projects of Bodegas Terras de Asorei involve boosting wine tourism within the Wine Route of the Rias Baixas, for which they will present new tourist products in the coming months. “And we believe that the location of the winery, which is highly visible and has direct access from exit 7 of the Salnés motorway, allows it to have a reference position right at the door of the Salnés Valley,” adds Xosé Ramón Durán.

Within this strategy to boost wine tourism, this summer they have planned to redefine the façade or skin of the winery with a new design from the architects Seso Martínez and Teresa Outeda Táboas.

“We have already sold 50% in Japan”

Another pillar of Terras de Asorei to meet the challenges of the future is to become what is called a “4.0 Bodega”. This will be implemented in the improvement of production systems in the winery, in the media and software necessary for a better traceability, so that the origin of the wine can be followed from the vines to the production, bottling, labelling and exit for their commercialisation.

All this will be accompanied with a plan to increase the presence of Terras de Asorei wines in the digital marketplace, on-line sales and on social networks that will be created during 2018/2019.

With regard to developments in the market, in addition to growing internationally, they have also planned to increase their sales in the Spanish and Galician internal market, always with grapes belonging to the vineyards of the six partners, and taking advantage of their winery that has the capacity to produce up to 600,000 bottles, without the need to carry out any further works.

We shall also evolve towards new products, and this Christmas we will bring out our sparkling wines or Atlantic Bubbles of Terra de Asorei, for which we already have some 3,000 bottles committed to Japan, and during the next few years we want to expand our range with spirits,” explains Xosé Ramón Durán.

Os tres viños de Terra de Asorei no mercado

Maintain the founding values of quality, craftsmanship and tradition. This is the objective that Julio José Alonso Feijóo sets himself, a young agricultural engineer and fifth generation to take over Quesos Feijóo, a family cheese factory of Celanova (Ourense) that was founded in 1949 by Talita Hierro García.

From starting to prepare traditional “Queixo do Pais”, the company extended its offer in the 1990’s with block cheese and butter and later in recent years with Tetilla cheese and with a new range of semi-cured “Feijoo 1949” cheeses, made with cow’s milk as well as the mix with goat’s and sheep’s milk. Its latest addition was “Requeixo”, a traditional Galician product that is being very well received in the market. And next week its latest innovation will be launched to the public: Goat’s ‘Requeixo’ with Marron Glacé, a delicatessen product aimed at gourmet shops.

Goat’s ‘Requeixo’ with candied chestnuts, a new product from Quesos Feijóo

Julio, a 5th generation cheese-maker and quality technician, explains that “the idea came from seeing differentiated products that are being launched in other Communities, and we thought it was a very novel and tasty product that mixes the acid taste of the goats’ “requeixo” with the sweet and intense flavour of the candied chestnuts Marron Glacé from Cuevas”. The product was already presented last July in the United States, during a trade mission organised by the Provincial Government of Ourense, and in the next few weeks they expect to be able to show it to a specialist public in the United Kingdom.

In this way, they are trying to take a further step in the diversification that began last year with the development of “Requeixo”, “the buttermilk that was traditionally prepared in Galician peasant houses,” emphasises Julio. The adoption of a Designation of Origin for this product would be, in their view, an essential step to promote a product with great potential in the market.

However, most of Quesos Feijóo’s production remains the traditional Queso Pais, Tetilla and Block cheese, which account for 60% of its production, while the range of semi-cured products and the “Requeixo” represent the remaining 40%.

“The Galicia Calidade seal opens up the market to us in the rest of Spain”

This family cheese factory, where Julio, together with his parents Manuela Feijoo Hierro and José Manuel Alonso Bernárdez and an employee all work, they process about 40,000 litres of cow’s milk weekly, supplied by Lácteos del Deza and from cattle farms in the province of Pontevedra. The goat’s and sheep’s milk is acquired from cattle farms in Zamora.

Quesos Feijóo’s market is almost exclusively focused in the province of Ourense, both through traditional shops (Casa Manzano, etc…), as well as in local fairs and in its own delivery routes throughout the province. It is precisely this direct contact with consumers that Julio Alonso Feijóo values very positively: “It allows us to improve our products and to adapt to the tastes of our customers. In fact, that was why we started to diversify by also preparing cured cheeses and ‘requeson’ (cottage cheese)”. “We have not just focused on just being in a great distribution chain, but we are very clear about the fact that our product has to be valued and looked after,” he says.

Julio: “I want to continue the family tradition and ensure that this cheese factory celebrates its 100th anniversary”

Another important milestone for this cheese maker was its integration in the Galicia Calidade seal last February. With this origin and quality seal we protect our Tetilla cheese, because we value that Galicia Calidade is a very good reference so that we can open up the market in the rest of Spain,” explains Julio.

Looking to the future, in Quesos Feijóo we want to continue investing in innovation, adapting to new consumer tastes, but without neglecting its traditional market. “In three years’ time it will be the cheese factory’s 70th anniversary and my goal is to celebrate 100 years of Quesos Feijóo,” Julio assures us. The enthusiasm and commitment to carry on the tradition of one of the few cheese factories that remain in the province of Ourense and one of the oldest in Galicia is not lacking in this young man.

Envasando os queirox

When Panaderia Chousa started in 1959, no one could foresee that this business would become a major industry, Ingapan, which currently has a presence in 20 countries and a 75 million euro turnover. Ingapan today has nine production plants aimed at the preparation of frozen dough, of which three are for hand-crafted products. The company has a catalogue of more than 400 references in bread, ‘empanadas’, cakes and ready meals.

Ingapan’s turning point came in 1993, when what until then had been a traditional chain of bakeries was transformed into an industry oriented to large-scale production of frozen dough for bread and ‘empanadas’, with the idea of transcending into the Galician market.

“The route we have set is to take the good work of hand-crafted preparations to an industrial level”

“The route Ingapan set was to take the good work of hand-crafted preparations to an industrial level. Progress has been spectacular from that commitment base to quality and we are currently the fourth largest producer of frozen dough in Spain,” says the company’s sales director, Manuel López.

Markets
The Company’s main markets are found in Spain, Portugal, Italy and France, but its presence has already reached the other side of the Atlantic, with a delegation opening in Florida (United States) last year. Ingapan’s products maintain a diversified distribution which is distributed among major retail outlets (50%), traditional markets (20%), hotels and restaurants (20%), and other miscellaneous customers (10%).

The key to success in the company is based on three axes: quality, natural products and origin. “We look after the process beginning with the selection of the raw material. We generally work with Galician suppliers, nearly always with companies who have been working with us for years. In meat, milk or wine products, the origin is Galician. In the case of wheat, a large part of our consumption is supplied by a Galician windmill,” explains Manuel López.

“The Galicia Calidade seal is particularly important when it comes to selling products that do not have GIP, like ‘empanadas’”

“The tuna also comes from 2 Galician companies and has been certified as ‘Dolphin safe’, which ensures a type of fishing that minimises the accidental catching of dolphins. Environmental commitments with the consumer are also important,” he points out.

Galicia Calidade
The various ranges of Ingapan products have the Galicia Calidade seal as a guarantee, a certification that the company values as positive. “In products related to Galicia, like ‘empanada’, this has a special importance, because there is no Geographical Indication to protect it,” indicates Manuel López. “Every day the consumer looks more at the seals of guarantee”.

New ‘Galician Bread’ GIP
With regards to the promotion of Galician Bread in the markets, the impending implementation of the ‘Galician Bread’ GIP is greeted as “necessary” by Ingapan. “At domestic level, we needed an identifying mark. When you go to other communities, you see that bread is sold with the Galician designation when that product is prepared outside Galicia and does not follow any quality standards,” explains the company’s sales director.

“In other communities there is bread with the Galician name that is not produced in Galicia and that does not meet quality standards”

The commissioning of the Indication, as requested by the Xunta at European level, will be positive “both for hand-crafted bakeries as well as industrial plants with a hand-crafted base, such as ours, where the cutting and stretching of the dough is still being done manually,” says López. “We are already preparing to adapt our production lines to the new GIP in order to open up markets both in Spain and internationally”.

Godello, a native grape that has gained strength in recent years in designations of origin (DO) like Valdeorras and Monterrei, is being very well received in international markets. In the case of Quinta do Buble, an Oimbra winery (Ourense) of the DO Monterrei, its Godello has Germany as its first destination, a country where it has wowed and where it already has a well-established distribution.

The winery’s entry into the Germanic country was helped due to the fact that some of its partners live there, while other traditional wine markets are also not foreign to it, as is the case of Japan, Belgium and Ireland. About 80% of the Quinta do Bublé production is exported, while the remaining 20% is consumed in Galicia and the north of Spain.

“Monterrei is doing a good job and generating interest. The prestige that Galicia Calidade provides abroad is also important”

Preparations
Quinta do Buble’s work focuses on white wines, mainly Godello, while it also produces a small amount of Mencia. Its white wine of reference carries the name of the winery, Quinta do Bublé, a Godello that is made from the production of the oldest vines and that is macerated prior to its next step to the tanks.

“It is a wine that is characterised by its aromatic intensity. The majority of our vines are on a hillside area, so the production volumes are lower than in the valley, but the grape retains more aroma and freshness, says Beatriz Casado, from Quinta do Buble.

Another of the Godellos of the winery is Terra do Lobo, a brand that was originally designed for the United States, which goes to the tank after pressing, without maceration. The white wine chapter closes with O Roncal, a multi-variety wine that has Godello as the main variety and around 10% Treixadura, another ‘top’ native variety in Galicia.
As for the reds, Quinta do Bublé has marketed vintage Mencia in previous years, although now it is focusing on the development of young wines.

Volumes
The total production of the winery is around 120,000 litres, although it has the capacity to grow. Nowadays Quinta do Bublé is supplied from the grapes from its own vineyards, totalling around 22 hectares.

“Our vineyards are on the hillside, so we get less volume of production than in the valley, but greater aromas”

In the future, the winery plans to expand production by renting vineyards of the designation. “Our idea is to control the whole process of growth and ripening of the grapes to be able to have a greater guarantee of quality,” indicates Beatriz Casado.

At the winery, they are satisfied with the work that is being done in the DO Monterrei, because they feel that markets are being opened and interest is being generated. They also make use of the Galicia Calidade seal for their promotion abroad. “We have been using the Galicia Calidade seal for two years because it is a brand that that brings prestige when dealing with people abroad. Everything Galician has an image of quality abroad”, they emphasise at the winery.

When Modesto Toubes and Delia Cabarcos started their own San Simón da Costa cheese factory ten years ago, they found that Designation of Origin (D.O.) products already had a strong presence in the Galician market, where more than half a dozen cheese factories competed, so they chose to focus on the domestic market and particularly on the international one. Currently, half of its production is sold abroad, in the United States, Asia and Europe.

The Queixeria Casleiras, located in Oleiros (Vilalba), was created in the heyday of San Simón, shortly after the designation was expanded throughout the entire Terra Cha. “We were the first D.O. cheese factory to set up outside of the parish of San Simón,” recalls Modesto.- “At that time, both Delia had just graduated from the University and we had a some work experience in industries. It was then that the idea came to us about setting up our own cheese factory”.

“We hit the nail on the head. When we saw the market situation in Galicia, we thought that it made more sense to seek new markets”

The approach that they gave from the beginning to the marketing of the cheese, committing to introducing it to rest of Spain and abroad, proved successful. “We hit the nail on the head. When we saw the market situation in Galicia, we thought that it made more sense to seek new markets than to start competing with the rest of the San Simón cheese factories. In Madrid and Barcelona, San Simón was already a known product, not as much as today, but it worked. We also decided to look beyond because we were aware that San Simón is a cured, smoked cheese that can tolerate long journeys. We then spoke to exporters and from there we saw that our cheese was successful abroad”.

The opening of markets was progressive and continues to this day. “It is what allows us to grow” – Modesto values. “Just a few days ago we had our first cheese order from Myammar (formerly Burma)”. The Asian market is one of the strongest at export level. Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and South Korea are some of the countries where Casleiras is present.

Production
The production of the cheese factory focuses on San Simón cheese, the majority in one kilo pieces, the most suitable to send abroad. Around 200 and 250 San Simón cheeses are hand-crafted each day.

They obtain their milk supply through an authorised buyer. “The milk is from the region, as corresponds to the designation of origin, and meets at the quality, fat and protein levels. The Terra Cha region is characterised for being a wet area with good pastures and forages, a feature that has an impact on good milk”.

The Sector in Galicia
Casleiras, which also sells its San Simón in Galicia through the Froiz supermarket chain, maintains a clear commitment to export, a feature that the majority of the designation cheese factories share, and in fact they set up as a joint undertaking, Queixeiros da Chaira, a few years ago to promote themselves together abroad.
In the opinion of Modest Toubes, the Casleiras’manager, the foreign market should be a priority for the Galician dairy sector. “We have some hand-crafted products with designation of origin and a quality that can compete at international level,” he values.

It is more difficult to send other designations like Arzúa-Ulloa or Tetilla abroad as they are soft cheeses, which must be eaten much quicker, although Modesto thinks that these D.Os could explore the authorisation of vacuum packaging for export, which would allow for the cheeses to be preserved longer.