The majority of organic goat milk farms in Germany process the milk themselves in farm cheese dairies, with the aim of producing an authentic cheese with a high quality.

According to KTBL evaluations (2021), the economic potential of on-farm milk processing is greater for these farms than for those supplying goat milk to the very limited number of organic dairies in Germany. Thus, organic artisan goat milk processing can contribute to securing the livelihoods of predominantly smaller farms and a diverse agriculture in rural areas.

Challenge

However, farmstead dairies can only exploit the potential of on-farm processing if they are successful in achieving a consistently high cheese quality and thus meet consumer expectations. However, experience from artisan cheesemaking practice shows that sudden strong and sometimes unpredictable quality fluctuations of goat milk occur even on farms with many years of experience, leading to cheese defects, i.e. undesirable sensory deviations from the quality standard.

These high economic losses due to quality fluctuations or faulty production of 5 to 30 % of the annual turnover of a cheese dairy, especially in the case of newcomers, pose a considerable threat to the existence of goat cheese dairies.

Aim of the project

The aim of the project is to research the milk quality, the cheese-making properties of organic goat’s milk and the sensory quality of organic goat’s cheese and to develop and test technological measures (process parameters) with which artisan cheese technology can adapt to fluctuations in milk quality.

The collaborative partner VHM is responsible for the knowledge transfer measures in the project with the aim of preparing the research results in a way that is suitable for the target group and making them available and disseminating them in German-speaking countries in a variety of forms.

Further Information

www.ziegenkaesequalitaet.de