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The Ultimate Cheese Making Experience since 1967
Having as a starting point the village of Vasilitsa in the region of Pindos, the company located in Nea Lefki of Larissa, started as a family company and was developed to a modern production unit of dairy products, which soon was established in the local region of Thessaly and other places. The year 1967 was a milestone for the company's history with the first export of feta cheese to the West Germany, under the name Vassilitsa; leading the way for other companies to follow.
The constant quantitative and qualitative controls in all the stages of production certify the high quality of products.
The philosophy of the small cheese-dairy family-run business, which, as the time was passing by, evolved to a high-end dairy industry, comprises first of all, the quality of the products in order to satisfy the customers' demands. The continuous personnel training according to the new demands of technology and the machinery upgrade, together with the environmental sensitization of the personnel create an ideal working environment and establish the conditions of the sustainable development.
The company produces Feta (P.D.O.) and other products with the traditional method, according to the national standard specifications and the Greek and European legislation.
In order to achieve the complete satisfaction of both the local and the international customers, the company is based on the long-lasting relationships it has created with the local stock-farmers/ suppliers of goat and sheep milk, the experience of its personnel and the constant application of the cheese-making methods, which are part of the company’s know-how.
The company has created and equipped a modern laboratory for chemical and microbiological controls, under the surveillance of the Quality Assurance Manager. In order to comply with the abovementioned standards, the company applies a Quality Management System, according to the standardization document ELOT EN ISO 9001:2008 and a Health and Security Management System (HACCP) of the produced items.
Stage 1: The sheep and goat milk (70% sheep milk and 30% goat milk) is collected from the producers in road tankers, where preserved at a temperature of 2°C. Then, it is delivered to the cheese production unit, where it is preserved in a bunker silo up to a temperature of 2°C till 2 days.
Stage 2: After milk has been frozen, it goes to the cream separator. There it is being cleaned and filtered and then it is being standardized. At the same time, the cream separator separates also the cream from the milk.
Stage 3: After milk has been cleaned and standardized it is ready for pasteurization. The pasteurization procedure is realized at the temperature of 72°C for 15 minutes or at 63°C for 30 minutes. The pasteurization procedure aims to kill all the pathogenic microorganisms which are dangerous and can later on cause problems, not only in the cheese products but also in the customers.
Stage 4: After milk has been pasteurized it is placed to the vats where it is produced the feta cheese. Firstly, we add lactic culture and yogurt culture and after a while, since the temperature has reached 33°C and its pH has been decreased, we add the rennet, in order to produce the feta cheese.
Stage 5: After adding the rennet and since we are sure that milk has congealed we cut it and place it in moulds so as to be shaped and also to drip its liquids. There, the cheese is being salted for the first time with rock salt. After a few hours it is being placed in the salt solution, where is it also being salted.
Stage 6: After cheese has been placed in the salt solution, the next day it is being placed in containers in order to ripen for about 10 days at the temperature of 18°C. After 10 days, it is placed in the refrigerators, where it is preserved for more 50 days at the temperature of 2°C. As a whole the maturing procedure of feta cheese lasts 60 days, so as to obtain the necessary ingredients that give its special taste and flavour and to minimize the risk of pathogenic microorganisms, which were not totally killed during the stage of pasteurization procedure.
Stage 7: Feta cheese after the maturing procedure of 2 months is safe and ready to be consumed. The last stage is its promotion to the
