Hecl farm, Slovenia

The Hecl farm is a livestock farm from Dravsko polje in Slovenia, whose history dates back to 1850. It focuses on milk production, and in 2011 the situation on the Slovenian dairy market led them to decide to process milk into home-made yogurts; plain yogurt and different fruit-flavored yogurts. By participating in various training, they learned about different technologies, tastes and traditions of milk processing. Cheesemaking was a challenge for them, which they successfully mastered with Plevnik cheese kettle SKH 800 EW. Mr. Hecl said:

,, We bought Plevnik Cheese kettle SKH 800 EW in order to enable us to produce almost all dairy products. Excellent quality, based on many years of experience and state-of-the-art energy and technological efficiency. At the time of purchase, we hadn’t dealt so much with cheeses, more with yogurts and cottage cheese. Well, this is slowly changing and with education, innovation, curiosity and a desire for new products, we also started making: semi-hard cheese, hard cheese with a washed rind, fresh cheeses and camembert. I believe that there will be another cheese that will enchant us with its taste and we will sign it with our seal.  Milk processing has changed the daily “rituals” on the farm, but we got used to it. By purchasing a larger cheese kettle, we have rationalized the processing in terms of quantity and time.”

They process 800 liters of milk a day, which comes from 35 black and white breed cows. None of their products contain artificial colors or genetically modified organisms (GMOs). In order to make yogurt accessible to people with lactose intolerance, they made homemade yogurt without lactose.

They set up a small home shop. Their products can also be bought at the market, in some local shops and also in two retail chains. That’s how they gained new customers from all over the country. They also supply public institutions: schools, kindergartens and homes for the elderly. Mr. Hecl says that with the outbreak of the epidemic in 2020, sales to kindergartens and schools have stopped, but other sales are normally going on.

Peter Hecl is a cheesemaker with passion. The most important goal of his effort, he even wrote on each package of his products, is: Try and enjoy! Hecl’s diligence, precision and selection of the highest quality ingredients of local origin helped him to receive several gold medals at the Agra fair and the Slovenian Farm Delicacies.