November 14, 2012

Lithuania's Vilkyskiu dairy seeks for blue cheese market in France

Lithuania's Vilkyskiu Pienine (Vilkyskiai Dairy) was in talks with a wholesaler, the Eversus, as it expects to find a market for its blue cheese in France.

"It is likely that we will start shipping our Memel Blue cheese to France. We are currently negotiating with a local wholesaler," it quoted Vilkyskiu Pienine CEO Gintaras Bertasius as saying.

The dairy produces more than 30 cheeses based on original recipes, of which 10 are marketed as gourmet.

Bertasius said that exporting products to EU markets is more difficult than to Russia, where buyers still feel nostalgic about Lithuanian cheese. However, the company has managed to increase its cheese sales to Israel and is successfully selling cheese to the Czech Republic. It is starting to increase sales to Poland as well.

Lithuania's annual per capita cheese consumption stands at 5 kilogrammes, compared with 26.1 kilogrammes in France.