The fruitière of Lavigney, about twenty miles away from Vesoul, is the only traditional cheese-making plant to produce artisanal pressed raw milk cheeses (Emmental, Gruyère) and uncooked cheeses (Raclette etc.) in the Haute-Saône region of France. Two specialist cheese makers are employed here.
The organic Gruyère labelled France IGP is the cheese-making plant’s flagship product and it is the only producer of this cheese in France. Since the creation of the IGP (certified geographical origin) label in 2013, this type of production has enjoyed sustained growth.
« 1 wheel of Gruyère = 40 kg = 400 litres of raw milk »
The milk is collected every day from farms in the surrounding area. The milk is high-quality and comes mostly from Montbéliarde cows fed mainly on grass and hay. It is tested and then poured into a copper vat, to which the cheese maker adds the lactic fermenting agents. This is raw milk, which retains all its natural flora and the characteristics of the local area.
To allow the milk to coagulate, the cheese maker adds natural rennet. He then closely monitors the formation of the curd, cuts it up using a cheese harp and the mixture is then stirred and heated to 53°C.
When the granules of curd have reached the right texture, the cheese maker pours the contents of the vat into moulds to form the wheels. On each mould, he attaches a yellow casein plaque which ensures its traceability. The pressing (6 hours minimum) allows the maximum amount of whey to be extracted.
Once they have been turned out of their moulds, the wheels are still soft and white. They are placed in the cellar of the cheese-making plant for 1 to 2 weeks at 9-10°C. The cheese maker turns them regularly and scrapes them with “morge” (a mixture of brine and surface flora) to encourage the rind to form.
The wheels continue to mature in specialised maturing cellars in Poligny, in the Jura region, for a minimum of 4 months. The cheese makers at the Fruitière de Lavigney work in close collaboration with their refiner counterparts, monitoring the wheels of Gruyère labelled France IGP right up until the end to guarantee the quality and taste, which is both fruity and floral at the same time.
« I am the son of a farmer, I grew up on the farm next door and now I process the milk from our cows to make high-quality cheeses, which are much appreciated by all. I am really proud of my work. I particularly like the fact that I work on a living product: the characteristics of the milk vary according to the seasons and you need to know how to adapt quickly by making adjustments to the manufacturing process: temperature, duration and dose of rennet, etc. Nothing is set in stone with this job. » Timothée
« I’ve been making cheese for more than 15 years and I’ve worked with all types of cheeses all over France. For me, the Fruitière de Lavigney combines everything I love about this job: pressed cheeses, artisanal production methods, the modest size of the facilities and the fact that we are involved in every stage… Here, there is plenty of room for the cheese maker’s skills to express themselves, producing cheeses with character. » Romain
In Selles, right in the north of the Haute-Saône region, the Fromagerie Roussey makes soft cheeses with a bloomy rind (Brie, Camembert, Carré de l’Est, Onctueux de brebis, etc.) and with a washed rind, including the famous Munster Géromé AOP.
The site also includes facilities for processing fresh dairy products: plain and fruit yoghurts, cream cheese etc.
The production of cheeses and fresh dairy products is semi-automated, with some key stages being kept in artisanal mode: traditional moulding of Munster, traditional methods of draining cream cheese, etc.
« We work as a team to make the best products »
Once the milk has been partially skimmed and pasteurised, it is left to mature (3/4 hr – 1hr) in tanks heated to 35°C, with fermenting agents. These include a red fermenting agent, which gives the Munster its typical orangey-red appearance.
The matured milk is passed through a chain of 53 200 litre basins and rennet is added to help with coagulation. The curd that forms is then cut up into small cubes and stirred to extract the whey.
The moulding of the Munster is finished by hand, not by machine. Thanks to the cheese maker’s expertise, the Munster cheeses will not have a strictly standardised look, even if they have all come out of the same mould…
In the draining room, where they are turned several times, the whey is drained from the Munster. The cheeses are then removed from their moulds, the surface is salted and dried and they are then taken to the maturing cellars, where the fresh cheese will gradually be transformed into Munster.
During the 21 day period in which the Munster-Géromé AOP (500g) is matured, the cheese is turned and scraped with brine several times. The second scraping is finished by hand in order to ensure the optimum development of flora, which will give the Munster its final look, its orangey-red colour and its aroma.
« Every morning, I do a round of the maturing cellars. I check the temperature and humidity because the slightest difference will change the appearance of the cheese. I also inspect the cheeses and touch them to assess the formation of the rind and to decide whether, for example, they need to be turned once again. We work as a team here to make the best products! For the Munster, for example, we have reintroduced a manual scraping stage. The result is a more homogeneous colour and a more attractive appearance for the cheese. The working environment is inspiring and when a new employee starts at the cheese-making plant, it’s a real pleasure to teach them the job » Angélique
We make our yoghurts and cream cheese using traditional techniques, with a slow maturing process which makes them so creamy. Our recipes, natural or gourmet with a real taste of fruit, regularly receive awards.
It is at the Laiterie des Monts Yssingelais dairy in Araules, which was set up the Gérentes family in 1947, that blue cheeses (Fourme d’Yssingeaux, Saphir du Velay, Tomme Givrée), UHT milk and butter are processed. Didier Gérentes, CEO of the cheese-making business, is also one of the founders of Biodéal.
« 100% French and fair trade milk »
The milk that is processed in Araules is organic milk, 95% of which has been collected from within the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region. As it arrives at the dairy, the milk is analysed to test its bacteriological quality. It is transferred to large refrigerated tanks, where it only stays for a few hours.
The skimmer separates the cream from the milk. Then, depending on the type of milk required, the cream is reincorporated (or not) to adjust the level of fat: 0% fat for skimmed milk, 1.5% for semi-skimmed, 3.5% for full-fat milk. The milk is heated to 140°C for 2 seconds to remove all the micro-organisms before being rapidly cooled back down. This sterilisation process allows it to be kept for up to 5 months.
The milk is then packaged in cartons by a machine that has been carefully sanitised. Protected from the air and light in this way, it can then be stored and delivered to the point of sale.
« When Adnan Jaoui and I founded Biodéal in 2000, I was already heavily involved in the family cheese-making business in Araules. So it was only natural for Biodéal to start producing its first organic products in Araules: UHT milk, cheese and butter. I then supported the development of Biodéal across its other sites, in particular in Selles in the Franche-Comté region, where I supplied my expertise in the development of the fresh dairy products plant. Today, Biodéal is still growing and supporting the conversion of milk producers to organic. »
Didier Gérentes
