The goal of the project is to design and create a local cheese value chain in the Saxon Villages area of Transylvania (Târnava Mare), which will give added value to the milk produced by grass-fed cows owned by family farmers in the region.

The Târnava Mare landscape is one of the last and richest landscapes in Europe in terms of biodiversity of the region. The cows grazing on these pastures in a “naturally organic” farming system produce a high quality milk which can be demonstrated scientifically, by analysis, to be especially rich in healthy and tasty compounds and elements. From this raw material, a cheese can be made that carries all its uniqueness and natural quality to the table of those consumers in Romania and around the world who are eager to value that quality.

This project aims to allow the farming communities (around 5.000 families) of the area, the stewards of this land, to give it the value it deserves through developing an entrepreneurial vision, differentiating their products from industrial quality commodity products, while at the same time escaping from the niche ‘trap’ that can restrict volume of sales and innovation in production, and ultimately allowing for the sustainable long term survival of these landscapes and their communities.