http://www.economist.com/blogs/easterna ... ian-cheeseA FEW years ago I spent some time with Zek Morina (pictured). Each year, between May and October he and his family, their 360 goats and eight Sharr dogs troop up the mountains to Tushovice behind the town of Prizren in southern Kosovo. Then, on market day, someone treks down to Prizren and sells the big cheeses you can see on the shelves for €4 a kilo.
If Mr Morina’s cheese was cut into tiny, delicate little morsels, packaged and labelled as organic, natural and good for you (as it is), it could probably sell in London or Paris for at least seven times that amount.
Of course, the problem is that there is no way to get Mr Morina’s cheese from Tushovice to Tesco (or, more likely, an expensive specialist deli). Moreover, Kosovo is not yet ready to export dairy products like Mr Morina’s into the European Union.
Mr Morina’s story came back to me when I read a report on Bosnia's cheese industry by Populari, a Bosnian think-tank. It comes at a time when the country is agog at the prospect of the demise of its dairy sector. Simply put, the Bosnians have not done what they need to do on EU sanitary rules. This means that when Croatia joins the EU next year (assuming a referendum on accession is successful this weekend) it will no longer be able to accept its neighbour's dairy produce.
In fact, now that Bosnians are finally inching towards the formation of a government, and a prime minister has been approved, they may just be able to get their act together in time to avert this catastrophe.
The Populari paper looks at the development of specialist Bosnian cheese producers, who are already several steps ahead of the likes of Mr Morina. It focuses on Eko Vlasic, a co-operative. "Possibly without even realising it," the paper says, "Eko Vlasic is getting ready to take part in what is called the ‘experience economy’. The concept... treats physical products (goods) in the same league as services. It... is no longer enough to offer only goods and/or services, as consumers are now looking for experiences.”
How can these producers get their stuff out to European consumers? First, the report argues, they need to register their cheese names. This can be done in Bosnia, and they can then be protected at the EU level. This, for example, is what stops Welshmen selling Camembert, or Swedes from selling fake Stiltons or Sardos.
The think-tank goes on to point to a possible model. “Just like in Bosnia, the picturesque mountain meadows of Switzerland are suitable for cheese production. Traditional Swiss cheese is not produced in large factories, but in rural small farm dairies.”
The Swiss and cantonal governments have long supported their farmers. “This policy has enabled the farmers to maintain the high level of quality, which together with clever marketing, ensures high profits. The very same story could be told in Bosnia too.”
I look forward to the day I can buy a small Vlasicki in London.
