Tradicijski sirevi, Croatia

With the help of EU support, Vladimir Balent renovated the abandoned Zrindol dairy. They make 9 types of cheese from cow’s and sheep’s milk and a mixture of both. They also plan to make yogurt, cream and butter. The production technology is based exclusively on tradition, which means that the products are made from whole milk, without any preservatives or additives other than salt and vinegar.

They are constantly improving the technology, they also bought a Cheese washing device PS, about which Vladimir Balent said:
“If I knew that work with Plevnik cheese washing device PS is so much simpler and physically easier than manual washing, I would have bought it earlier.”

As milk is scarce in Međimurje, Croatia, most cow’s milk is imported from a local dairy cooperative in Slovenia. Slovenian milk is of the highest quality and they are very satisfied with it. Sheep’s milk comes from the heart of Lika, Croatia. Semi-hard, hard and mixed cheese, Emmental, homemade cheese, sheep cheese and cottage cheese are the products of this dairy, which are mainly supplied to hotels and restaurants in Dalmatia.

The connection with Dalmatia is not accidental, as Vladimir worked for several years in the city dairy in Split and then at some point decided to turn a new leaf in his life. He took out a loan, bought a bankrupt cheese factory, remodeled it, hired people, and started making cheese. He wants to further expand capacity, buy more equipment and make a small shop inside the facility so locals can try and buy their products.

At the fair in Gornja Radgona in 2018, he won a gold medal for hard cow cheese and a silver medal for cow cottage cheese, which testifies to the quality of his products.