Doobra farm: how Ukrainian craft cheeses are conquering the world

Ukrainian cheese factory "Doobra farm" from Bohuslav region won two bronze awards at the World Cheese Awards 2024 in Portugal. This prestigious event, known as the" cheese Oscar", has become an annual tradition for the company, which, despite the challenges of the war, continues to represent Ukraine on the world stage. Chief technologist Andrey bely shared with the journalist UNN The Secrets of success and spoke about the uniqueness of craft products.

Among the 4,700 samples of cheeses presented at 100 tables, experts selected the best, which included 11 Ukrainian producers, including Doobra farm.

founder of the Cheese Factory "Doobra farm" Taras Lozhenko

UNN learned from the chief technologist of "pre-Obroi farm" about the competition, the secrets of creating the perfect cheese and the key to the success of the Ukrainian cheese factory. 

"This is not the first time we have participated in the World Cheese Awards. We first got there in 2022. It was our farm that, for the first time in a long time, represented Ukraine in such a large-scale competition. No one has done this before," says Andrey.

He says that it is difficult to export even a few pieces of cheese to the EU, but still, despite all the obstacles and war, participation in world competitions has become an annual tradition for them.

The technologist says that now Ukrainian craft hard cheeses are only gaining popularity, because in the culture of our people there was such a thing.

"It's about cheese traditions. In central Ukraine, there was no historical tradition of making hard cheeses — this is due to the country's landscape," he adds.

Andriy notes that the flat nature of the territory of Ukraine made it possible to keep cows, sheep or goats near households. Instead, the cheese-making tradition mostly developed in mountainous areas, as the animals were far away from farms, which required processing and preserving dairy products.

"That is why there was no culture of Ukrainian hard cheeses, because of this, Ukrainians bought foreign cheese. Even now, in the wake of the development of craft cheeses, the range has grown, and their quality is excellent," the technologist adds.

According to him, Ukraine has a very good dairy base and raw materials, especially after a new grade of milk was added — "extra".

"In our case, the search for high-quality raw materials is not necessary. We have a closed cycle: starting with animal feed, which gives milk to the finished product. Even 12 years ago, we already worked with extra - grade milk, "Andrey added.

As for Ukrainian cheese recipes, this is only cheese, which has 2 types: "Carpathian cheese" and cheese of the southern regions, but it is softer.

"In fact, we are now writing Ukrainian cheese history anew. Of course, in Ukraine it is impossible to make the same "Gouda" as in the Netherlands, just as in the Netherlands it is impossible to make the same "Legend" that we make on our farm," the chief technologist adds.

While, according to Andrey, it will be difficult to bring their products abroad, it is necessary to carry out certification in order to prove to Europeans the high quality of cheese, and this is already a matter of financial complexity.

"We need to produce a lot of Cheese,  so that this certification pays for itself," he stressed.

When asked What are the three main principles of creating high-quality and delicious cheese, Andrey answered: "the naturalness of the product, without any flavorings and stabilizers. Another important principle for us is a closed cycle, because the quality of raw materials depends on it. We have taken this issue into our own hands, so we have no doubts about the quality of raw materials. And most importantly - control and responsibility at all stages"