It is known that Kupres, thanks to its rich biodiversity, produces the best quality cheeses in Bosnia and Herzegovina and beyond. This is evidenced by numerous awards for quality. However, Kupres is also unique because, in addition to the traditional cheese, it also produces orange, lemon, and even peanut and chocolate cheese. We visited the cheese factory of Smail Žigić, who moved with his family from Sarajevo to Kupres ten years ago precisely because of cheese.
More than a thousand different plants grow on the Kupres plateau and it is an ideal area for livestock grazing. And precisely the quality raw material, ie milk, is the foundation for a quality final product.
And that’s exactly what prompted Smail Žilić to change his Sarajevo address to Kupreška and start producing cheese, right on the street with the symbolic name – Path of Medicinal Herbs.
“If you can make good cheese anywhere in Bosnia and Herzegovina, it is, among other things, in Kupres, that’s what I did when I left Sarajevo, me and my family, and we started a really big project,” Smail Žigić, the owner of the cheese factory, tells us. in Kupres.
Smail renovated the devastated building of the former Kupres Dairy, employed 7 employees and started production in 2014 with his own funds, without any help from the authorities. Currently, only a family of three works here. They process up to 35 tons of liters of milk per month, which they buy mostly from farmers in Kupre, but also partly from Vlašić and Rostov. The work is demanding because up to 200 kilograms of cheese are produced daily.
“I can tell you that it is a difficult job, it requires time from early morning until late at night, especially in the summer when there is more milk then we used to work three shifts. We organize ourselves and it goes, there is no other way ,” says Smail’s wife, Munevera Žilić.
In this dairy, apart from the traditional Kupreša cheese, they also produce cheeses with herbs, cranberry, blueberry, aronia, as well as orange and lemon, and even peanut and chocolate. Smail says, if you have standard quality cheese, it’s just a matter of creativity what you add to it. And for quality, Smail has been awarded five times with recognition at the prestigious Balkan Cheese Festival.
“Kupres has never been better presented or advertised through its own product. My cheese is not called Smail Žilić’s cheese, it is called Kupreški cheese and Kupreški cheese has become a brand not only in Belgrade, Serbia, there is no continent where the Kupreški cheese brand has not gone “, says Smail with satisfaction.
This master of agricultural sciences plans to create an educational center as part of the cheese factory, where students and pupils, as well as milk producers, will be able to be trained. Although he created a brand that promotes Kupres and completes the tourist and gastronomic offer of the region, any support from the authorities was completely absent.
Source: akta.ba
