The story of Kupreša cheese, as the best in the Balkans, has been filling the front pages of online media throughout the region for days. But behind the lights of the stage, there is a harsh reality, somewhat unbelievable. Seven years ago, production was started at Kupres Milch , on the site of a once famous cheese factory, and since then they have only known for success. The public knows almost nothing about their daily struggle with what they say is an absurd agricultural policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Namely, according to a visitor to the Balkan Cheese Festival in Belgrade, the best cheese in this region is made in Kupres, in the cheese factory of Smajil Žilić. This master of animal husbandry has been crowned with gold in the Serbian capital for the fifth year in a row. And these are not the only awards, there are many more to list.
At first, you think that behind them stands the state, the department, the apparatus that supports all this and pushes it forward and that showered them with congratulations when they returned from the festival. And, in fact, when the Agroklub portal was called, they sent the inspectors away from the property.
– There was not a single invitation, nor congratulations, nor recognition from the local community. The same applies to Canton 10 and the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, which is totally disinterested, like any institution in BiH – says Žilić.
“Imagine a paradox”
The awards, he adds, are important to them as confirmation that they are doing the right thing. They have no material value, but they do have a reference and confirmation of quality status. To make things even more absurd, the Žilićs received a congratulatory letter from the former US ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Maureen Cormack.
– When we won the second or third time, I got a thank you and a congratulation from her because we presented Bosnia and Herzegovina well, imagine that paradox, and the local community didn’t do it – the creator of the best cheese points out.
They are offended, he says, by the fact that none of the local government representatives recognize them, because at the fairs they do not exhibit themselves, but rather products from the environment that deserves it, from Kupres, that is, from BiH.
– And they want my parafiscal levies, so return it in some way, even if it was a phone call or a letter.
On Saturday, May 21st, they will travel to Novi Sad for four more awards – the three highest awards, the Grand Gold Medal, and one gold medal. They did not attend the Novi Sad Fair as exhibitors this year, somewhat out of revolt, but they sent samples that were evaluated by an eminent committee of professors from all over the former Yugoslavia.
– The Chamber of Commerce did not deign to invite such a cheese, or rather a dairy, and ask “if we are interested in participating in the joint BiH stand”. So, we were not even informed or invited to participate – says Žilić.
No two-way partnership
As he states, this fact alone shows the attitude of BiH institutions towards what is valuable. He points out that the problem in this country is not making a quality product, but rather the lack of two-way partnership, and someone will have to deal with that.
– They do not exist for us, they are not our service, which they should be. We exist for their sake, so that they can feed that azbaha, which is getting bigger and bigger. Bosnia and Herzegovina is one pond, baretina, it is getting smaller and smaller, and there are more and more of those azhbahs, five or six in the office, who live off us – says Žilić, adding that the Agroklub asked him what was his pain point.
Kupres cheese in only a few BiH stores
The crisis during the corona, obviously, did not make the authorities aware, and there is every chance that they are not even affected by forecasts about food shortages due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. The best quality BH. there are the fewest products in domestic stores, but they are available all over the world. This example also proves it. The owner of the cheese says that it is because of the stepmotherly relationship of trading houses towards the small producer.
– Our products are not available on the BiH market, except in a few facilities. We sell them on the doorstep or send what we can by express mail. We are now preparing the first delivery to Belgrade, that is, Serbia, and we are satisfied with that. A quality product will find a buyer even in Zimbabwe – he adds.
Negligently destroyed exports to Turkey
This dairy was not subsidized even during the pandemic. In order to keep the business going, Žilić sold his apartment in Sarajevo. No institution has come forward to help this and two other dairies, even when it comes to buying up market surpluses, but last year we imported 93 million KM worth of cheese.
– We made 35 tons of cheese and since we had excess cheese, we offered to all relevant institutions to buy it, we received neither a written nor an oral response. And, we saved a lot of milk that would have ended up in the sewer because many dairies had full warehouses. We processed it, and the state’s reaction was zero – he recalls.
And that’s not the end of the absurdities they face. Namely, due to the negligence of those in charge, the agreed export of 3.5 tons of cheese to the Republic of Turkey, worth 35,000 EUR, failed. A few days ago, more than two tons of that cheese had to be destroyed.
– The export failed because the extension of the export license by the relevant ministry lasted nine months. In the end, the customer gave up.
Looking for partners
No one takes responsibility for such failures. The dairy now produces as much as it can safely and independently sell. All the work is done by the owner with his wife, son and another worker. They produce 20 tons per year, using the traditional method of production.
Because of these numerous challenges, he can no longer do it alone. Žilić is now looking for a business partner, he will sell part of the shares to someone who is ready to invest together and maintain the level of quality and stability, and obtain a license to export to the EU and thus increase production to 10 tons per month. There is currently no shortage of milk, they buy it from Kupres and Šipovo, from Vlašić, Livno and sometimes Tomislavgrad.
The offer includes full-fat cow’s cheese, smoked cheese, a combination of cow’s and goat’s, and two cheeses with spices. Other combinations are available upon request. For a customer in Serbia, they made cheese with chokeberry, sporadically with cranberry, blueberry, and truffles.
– When you make quality base cheese, you can experiment with it. There is no special secret or wisdom, it is made of milk. Don’t do math, subtract-add, there is no quality there – says the interlocutor of Agroklub, noting that there are no emulsifiers, stabilizers, dyes, milk powder, potato starch in their cheese. They add only what is technologically necessary – culture for taste, calcium chloride and rennet.
“We will fail”
What we import, he says, is the last piece of garbage, because global producers extract certain enzymes, vitamins, and proteins from fresh milk, and sell it to the pharmaceutical industry, and from the white mass that remains after all those procedures, they make the cheese that is sold here. As long as this is the case, he believes, progress cannot be expected.
The country has no state ministry, and no state strategy for agricultural development. The strategies we have are sitting in the drawers. At the same time, billions of marks were invested in incentives, and the same amount entered the state through donations, in this regard, Žilić wonders why the situation is so bad in this sector and why no one bears responsibility?
Who voted against the establishment of the Ministry of Agriculture of BiH?
– You have incentives for milk in FBiH, 0.34 KM/l for registered OPGs, and 0.31 KM for natural persons. That premium is also received by the producer in Kupres who has one swath and cannot make any silage, as well as the one in Posavina or Lijevče polje who has four swaths, silage, corn and other things – he explains the illogicalities.
He testifies that during the time of the Republic of BiH, the Ministry of Agriculture had a total of 97 employees, in a country that had farms with 4,000 dairy cows, such as those in Modriča, Odžak, Sokolac. Today’s administrative apparatus eats up everything that is produced.
– This agriculture survives solely on the optimism, enthusiasm and stupidity of us individuals. The perception is that we only serve to peck at the beret of the crocodile. We will fail – he concludes.
Simple quality test
He also gave Agroklub readers advice on how to test the cheese they buy. The procedure is very simple.
It is enough to soak it in water and let it stand for two or three days. Real milk cheese will only turn white, like hands that have been kept in water for a long time. Cheese that has surrogates and other additives in it will fall apart.
Source: ba.ekapija.com
