The
country’s first cheese factory according to European standards, Siryak Co. Ltd.,
has been set up. The factory of this joint venture between Mongolian, French
and Italian entrepreneurs is in the Shar Xolai area of Gachuurt, 35 km from the
city. The company will be making mainly yak milk cheese but since yak milk
supply is inadequate, it will also experiment with cow and yak milk
blends. 

The
Director of the project and its main inspiration is Didier Le Goff, an engineer
by profession who has been a technical consultant for food manufacturers in
Mongolia for the past four years. He was spurred to start this venture by the
need for commercial initiatives in the field of agricultural products and the
potential Mongolia has in this sector.

Set
up with a total investment of 150,000 Euros, the cheese factory is being
treated as a pilot project which its initiators hope to replicate in different
parts of the country. “A big aim is to help herders in the countryside continue
with their pastoral lifestyle and make an income,” said Le Goff. Herders in the
Gachuurt area own around 100 yaks and part of the initiative includes providing
training and new techniques to improve farming, cattle feeding, milking the
animals and collecting milk from the herders.