Coopérative fromagère des Bergers du Larzac: 500 000 € in FEADER funding to expand the production workshop

The Coopérative fromagère des Bergers du Larzac is based in La Cavalerie, in the Aveyron department.

Founded in 1995, it collects and processes sheep's milk to manufacture and market cheeses. Its model is based on a collective organization bringing together livestock farmers from the area.

According to testimony published by the Occitanie Region, nearly 80 producers supplied milk to the cooperative, around 50% of it organic, for close to 4 million liters of milk processed and 10 million euros in revenue. These figures are those given in that testimony, not audited financial data — other public sources give noticeably different figures for membership and volumes depending on the year.

The cooperative undertook a program to expand its soft cheese production workshop, with a dual objective: increasing production capacity and improving working conditions, while strengthening product quality.

The project included the expansion of the production workshop, the creation of a semi-automated production line, the optimization of raw material use, the improvement of cheese consistency, and the increase of ripening capacity and cellar space.

The project was supported by FEADER (European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development). A local press article indicates that the expansion of the facilities was carried out in 2016, but the institutional fact sheet consulted does not explicitly specify the rural development program or the corresponding FEADER measure — this information remains to be confirmed before any definitive attachment to a programming period.