“Vale Pastor” will reward the best quality milk for PDO cheese production

The “Vale Pastor +”, a measure that aims to reward producers of cheese that have milk of better quality for the production of cheese PDO, admitted 196 of a total of 228 applications.

According to data provided to the Lusa agency by InovCluster – Association of the Agro-Industrial Cluster of the Center, the “Vale Pastor +” award falls under the project “Program for the Enhancement of Cheese Production in the Center Region”, whose goal is to make a fundamental contribution to the economic enhancement of PDO cheeses.

This is a cash prize to be awarded to milk producers who comply with the specifications for the production of PDO cheese and who present the best quality milk.

The amount to be awarded is 2,500 euros per candidate accepted, at the end of the evaluation process, by the four intermunicipal communities with administrative responsibility in the territory where the business projects are installed.

The “Vale Pastor +” awards will be given to the accepted applicants that show the highest quality milk during the period December 2019 to May 2020.

This award is dependent on verification of the quality of the PDO milk produced and compliance with the PDO specification standards during the same period.

The Program for the Enhancement of the Centre Region Cheese Sector involves a total investment of 2.7 million euros, of which 2.3 million correspond to the Program for the Enhancement of the Centre Region Cheese Sector, 85% funded by Center 2020, and 428 thousand euros are related to the initiative Cheeses of the Centre Region Touristic and Gastronomic Route, 65% funded through Valorizar.

In total, the project involves a total of 14 entities in the Centre region, including four intermunicipal communities (Beira Baixa, Beiras e Serra da Estrela, Coimbra Region and Viseu Dão Lafões), five sector associations, two polytechnic institutes (Castelo Branco and Viseu) and the Beira Interior Plant Biotechnology Center.

09/02/2020