Photo Credit: USAID/Albania

Improving Quality Control in the Dairy Industry

From Cows to Stores
Improving Quality Control in the Dairy Industry

November 2, 2003 | Tiranë, Metaj, Albania

“It was just me and my brother producing cheese. We were pasteurizing the milk over wood – burning stoves, which we later changed to an oil burning furnace. All the milk waste products went into an open ditch that smelled horribly. We had a lot of problems with the community. Since we joined USAID funded Land O’ Lakes Good Management Practices (GMP) program in 2002 we have built a large plant with a septic system and six cooling tanks for testing and storage of milk employing over 25 people.  The neighbors are not complaining any more,” said Ferdinand Gjata, Owner of Delta Doni Dairy Processing Plant.

Gjata began business after the communist regime in Albania fell in 1991. The dairy industry was none existent then with individual farmers processing their own products and selling only at the local level. Now Ferdinand collects from over 800 farmers and distributes milk products like cheese, yogurt and milk to over 180 stores in the capital city of Tirana.  He was one of the first dairy processors to sign up with the GMP program, which assists dairy processors as they strive to improve sanitation and hygiene conditions in order to consistently achieve high quality products.

The dairy industry has improved its quality of milk products from the cows to the stores thanks to USAID/Albania’s economic restructuring program. With USAID-funded Land O’ Lakes programs, farmers throughout the country are profiting from increased milk production from their cows, plus an upward demand for quality pasteurized products.

“It is amazing that the dairy industry has come this far,” says Kristaq Jorgji, agriculture specialist at USAID/Albania. By 1995 there was no dairy industry; the government had dismantled all state farms arbitrarily by distributing the herds to local families who had little knowledge beyond basic farming skills. At that time milk was produced for only local consumption using unsanitary practices.

“We were pasteurizing the milk over wood–burning stoves, which we later changed to burning oil,” says Ferdinand Gjata, owner of Delta Doni Processing Plant and one of the first dairy farmers to sign up with the Good Management Practices (GMP) program. “It was just me and brother collecting milk and making cheese. All the milk waste products went into an open ditch that smelled horribly. We had a lot of problems with the community always complaining to us.” Since then they have built a new plant with a septic system and six cooling tanks for the testing and storage of milk employing over 25 people. They collect raw milk from more than 800 farmers and distribute milk products like cheese, yogurt and milk to over 180 stores in the capital, Tirana. “The community is not complaining anymore.”

During the communist regime women from Metaj, a small village in central Albania, were milking 25 cows seven days a week from 3:00 in the morning to sundown. They were not allowed to own any livestock larger than a chicken and could not take home even one liter of milk from the collective to their families. Today, 45 women from this same village, who have three to six cows each, have joined forces and created a cooperative where they profit from their own efforts, practicing good sanitation methods and benefiting from advanced technology.

“We each sold our milk separately to local businessmen who were paying us very low prices. After we attended the courses funded by USAID, we realized that by working together we could produce a better quality milk and sell it for much more,” says Arsino Zako, proud owner of ten cows and heifers and president of the cooperative. They now share a cooling tank and are collecting over 1000 liters a day selling it at double the price than two years before.

The economic restructuring program in Albania has introduced new technology to the dairy industry along with increased employment, sales, capacity and profitability. “The country has moved from a subsistence level of farming to a commercial one,” says Debbie Wagner, Director of Land O’ Lakes in Albania. “We are a catalyst to the development of the country.” The industry still has a long ways to go. However, with the interest and the initiative for improved dairy quality the country may even be exporting their high quality products in the near future.

“We were all milk maids during the communist regime when we worked seven days a week from 3:00 in the morning to sundown. When communism fell we were given one cow and one heifer.  We each sold our milk separately to local businessmen who were paying very low prices until we joined the Land O’ Lakes program funded by USAID. We realized that by working together and following good management practices we could produce better quality milk and sell it for much more,” said Arsino Zako, Dairy farmer and President of the Womens’ Metaj Dairy Cooperative.

Zako is the proud owner of ten cows and heifers and president of a women’s dairy cooperative in a small village in central Albania. Since 1998 the women have attended many trainings and been donated a cooling tank for testing and storage of milk as part of the USAID-funded program. Within four years they grew from 15 women in the coop to 45 strong. The cooperative is now collecting over 1000 liters a day selling it to dairy processors at double the price than two years before. The program has trained over 12,000 Albanian farmers and dairy processors since 1993 on new product development, milk collection, business management, hygiene and sanitation, among other subjects.