Famous cheeses boost Menorca’s dairy industry
Aside from it being a popular beach holiday destination, the island of Menorca is also renowned for its dairy farming sector and its range of famous cheeses. Santiago Tadeo, managing director of the Coinga Co-operative on Menorca, tells us more.
The Balearic island off the coast of Spain in the Mediterranean Sea is home to over 8,000 dairy cows producing 40 million litres of milk per year. Dairy farmers on the island rely on dairy companies to process the milk and export dairy produce to mainland Spain and to customers worldwide.
One of those customers is the Coinga Co-operative, which was founded back in 1966 by a group of small-scale farmers who joined forces to produce the famous Mahon-Menorca cheese. Today, the co-op handles around 50% of the milk produced on Menorca and is headed up by managing director Santiago Tadeo.
How many dairy farms are there on the island of Menorca?
In Menorca there are around 100 dairy farms. Coinga is made up of more than 60 farms and represents 50% of the island’s dairy sector. Our co-operative collects, packages and commercialises Menorca milk, as well as other dairy products, and spans on the Mahon-Menorca cheese. There are around 50 brands of cheese that fall under the Mahon-Menorca Protected Designation of Origin.
What is the population of the island?
Menorca is an island of about 700km² where there is a population of 98,000 inhabitants and a total of 8,244 dairy cows according to data from 2023. Despite its small size, Menorca remains the largest dairy farming island in the Balearic Islands.
In the Balearic Islands as a whole, there are 124 farms and 10,241 Friesian breed cows registered. Menorca concentrates 84% of the farms and 8 out of 10 cattle graze on them, hence the importance of continuing to support the island’s star product, cheese. Menorca is an island with an ancient cheesemaking tradition, as we have been making cheese for more than 2,000 years.
How much milk is produced per year there?
Menorca produces around 40 million litres of milk per year. Of those 40 million litres, about 30 million are dedicated to produce the Mahon-Menorca cheese. In fact, some of our farms are among the 100 best in Spain. The cows of Menorca graze freely and have the best care, which is why the quality of the milk is excellent. The geoclimatic characteristics of the island greatly influence the flavour of our cheeses.
Menorca is an island where the north wind blows strongly, dragging particles from the Mediterranean Sea that water the fields to provide food for our cows. To this we must add other factors that contribute to making our cheeses unique, such as the humidity, temperature and light on the island.
Is any dairy produce exported and imported?
Mahon-Menorca cheese is exported to more than 50 countries. In fact, this cheese has been one of the main ambassadors of the Menorca brand, contributing to its promotion and raising awareness of the natural and rural values of the island.
What are the main challenges with dairy farming on Menorca?
Menorca is no stranger to the crisis suffered by the dairy sector in Spain and internationally – it is a vulnerable sector dependant on the weather and market fluctuations, which in recent years has suffered the effects of the Covid crisis and the war in Ukraine. In our case, the sector has been aggravated by the effects of double insularity, which limits us when it comes to being more competitive.
Despite the difficulties, we are optimistic about the future. Mahon-Menorca cheese is increasingly recognised and our values are a trend in the market. Society is increasingly demanding with the way in which food is produced, being respectful of animals and the environment. Since our origins, at Coinga we have been fully committed to the conservation of our environment, the island of Menorca, which was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1993.
Where do you sell your dairy produce?
The Spanish market is our main market. We only sell fresh milk in Menorca and Mallorca because it is a very delicate product and has a very short expiration date, although we have clients from very prestigious establishments in other areas of Spain who buy milk from us because of its high quality, despite the difficulties involved in transporting the product.
We commercialise our cheeses in more than 35 countries. The US, Germany and the UK are our main markets. In recent years we have increased exports by 11% and we are opening new markets in Asia where our cheeses are increasingly recognised.
Are there many processors in Menorca?
Within the framework of the Protected Designation of Origin, there are 2 types. The first is the Mahon-Menorca cheese, made with milk that has undergone some kind of conservation treatment, such as pasteurisation. Moulds can be used to shape it. And the other is Artisan Mahon-Menorca cheese made with raw milk from the farm itself and using the ‘fogasser’, or cotton cloth, to shape it.
There are currently 9 Mahon-Menorca cheese-making factories, and the Coinga Co-operative is one of them. Our cheeses are produced with pasteurised cows’ milk. Every morning, we collect the milk from our farms distributed throughout Menorca to package or transform the milk on the same day of collection and maintain its qualities and the natural flavour that characterises it to the maximum.
Our cheeses are 100% natural and certified in animal welfare. Throughout history it has obtained more than 40 national and international awards in the most prestigious cheese competitions.
