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 Preview | Driven by 25 gearmotors and 23 MOVITRACR controllers from SEW-Eurodrive, the new system can handle 6,000 wheels of cheese per ho | 2.35 MB | Download |
 Preview | Tete de Moine is a smooth, semi-hard cheese which, is not sliced, but rather is scraped into paper-thin rosettes with a blunt Kn | 2.42 MB | Download |
 Preview | The demand for this traditional cheese has grown enormously over the last few years | 2.4 MB | Download |
August, 2013
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True connoisseurs have a special appreciation for Tete de Moine, which means “monk’s head” in English, and consider it one of the crown jewels of the Swiss cheese tradition. Tete de Moine is a smooth, semi-hard cheese which, is not sliced, but rather is scraped into paper-thin rosettes with a blunt Knife called a “Girolle”.
This means that each slice has a particularly large surface area, which creates the cheese’s typical aroma. When eaten, the cheese simply melts in ones mouth. Monks first began manufacturing this cheese in the Bellelay Abbey in the Bernese Jura. The first records of production of this cheese date back to 1192.
When one walks around the extensive grounds, it feels as if the monks are still strolling through the gardens and the buildings, which are built in the Baroque style or architecture. One can admire the carved ceilings in the abbey church as well as the light blue organ with gold ornamentation, which truly catches the eye.
Even though the cheese is no longer produced in the abbey and hasn’t been for years – the building, idyllically nestled in the Jura Mountains, currently houses a psychiatric clinic – visitors can still see a historical exhibit on cheese-making in the former barn and see how the monks used to make Tete de Moine.
The largest of nine cheese dairies that produce Tete de Moine is a 20 minute drive away in Saignelegier, a municipality that is located 15 Kilometres from Bellelay. 3, 000 wheels of cheese are produced here everyday; around a million are produced every year.
Approximately ten million litters of milk are used make the cheese. This milk comes from 80 different dairy farms in the region. These quantities are far cry from what the abbey used to produce.
Today in Saidnelegier, Emmi, the Swiss milk processor and dairy products company, produces the wheels of cheese in modern factories according to the traditional recipe. Enormous vats are lined up in the production hall.
Hard to believe that the dark yellow, viscous mass, called “Gallerte”, will ripen to become a tender semi-hard cheese in just few months.
Starting in the second week after production, the cheese goes to the inspection station, where it will be checked at least 20 times during the three to four months it takes to ripen, after which point it can be sold.
Cheesemakers in white aprons and white hats have an eye on everything. This is important, because there are a total of 260, 000 wheels of Tete de Moine in the cellar in Saignelegier at any time.
The wheels are stored in the dark, cool cellar on pine boards with around 600 wheels on each board. In earlier times, the arches of the abbey served as the ideal location for the cheese to mature.
The Tete de Moine is repeatedly taken out of the cellar and brought to fully automatic inspection station, where the individual wheels of cheese are weighed, brushed and sprayed with a saline mixture.
Afterwards, the wheels are turned upside down onto the cleaned boards, are palletized again and then transported back to the cellar.
The demand for this traditional cheese has grown enormously over the last few years. In 1950, around 27 tons of the cheese was produces per year; today that number has grown to approximately 1,800 tons.
The increased demand also affects the production in Saignelegier: The old inspection station was no longer able to service the large quantities of cheese being produced, which meant that some of the cheese had to be transported 20 Kilometres away to St. Imier.
Emmi has now purchased new systems to help manage the increased quantities. Driven by 25 gearmotors and 23 MOVITRACR controllers from SEW-Eurodrive, the new system can handle 6,000 wheels of cheese per hour. This means that the cheese can mature entirely in Saignelegier.
Tete de Moine is a successful product and sales have not been affected by the euro crisis. Exports sales of semi-hard cheese grew by 8.6 percent between 2011 and 2012. The majority of the other kinds of cheeses, such as soft cheese, fondue cheese and processed cheese, reported major losses at times.
Even well-known Swiss cheese such as Appenzeller (-8 percent) were affected. The export of “Monk’s head”, however, only saw a loss of about 1 percent, making it one of the few cheeses that remained at the level from previous year.
In this way, the cheese is truly living up its tradition, because even in its early days, Tete de Moine was highly sought-after product. In the middle Ages, it was even accepted as a form of currency.
Ends.
Media Contact
Kelly Farthing
NGAGE Public Relations
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Email: Kelly [at] ngage [dot] co [dot] za
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