Pakistan in the third largest producer of milk in the world, yet, it heavily implies on imports for cheese. It has the capacity to produce good quality and artisan cheeses locally, yet the artisan cheese making industry is still not as developed as it should be. Recently, due to the current economic crisis, and increased import duties, people are inclining towards locally produced artisan cheese since it is affordable as compared to the imported fresh, soft cheese which is expensive to import as it is a perishable item.
“Inflation creates opportunity.” Says Safdar Habib, one of the founders of Real Cheese Co. which is a producer of artisan cheese, based in Karachi. He further elaborates that this economic crisis can help the local cheese manufacturers since the imports are becoming expensive day by day. “When it comes to soft cheese, they are even more expensive to import since they are a perishable item and can easily rot and hence, has added preservatives which totally kills the idea of healthy, artisan cheese.” Mustafa and Safdar, two friends started Real Cheese Co, in November 2021, as a manufacturer of Artisan cheese, since they saw a gap in the industry. “People are unaware of real, artisan cheese, and people don’t know the difference between processed and artisan cheese.” The processed cheese has preservatives, volume increasing agents, stabilizers – by which the cheese is modified so that it becomes cheaper to buy; whereas the artisan is pure milk, good bacteria, salt and seasonings. Mustafa, who looks after the production of cheese, is currently in the USA for further certifications in cheese making including the tools, machineries, various processes. They are also working on their soft-cheese line and other varieties like feta, goat-cheese, camembert etc. They wish to see people realizing the benefits of having artisan cheese and preferring it over the processed ones.
Unlike the two friends, YayyCheese was founded purely as a passion. Muhammad Furqan, started experimenting with cheese in 2019, when the government levied heavy taxes on imports. The unavailability of unprocessed imported artisan cheese compelled him to tryout cheese-making at home. It started off with making Halloumi at home, to Gouda, Cheddar and Camembert. Muhammad Furqan’s wife, Sadaf took her husband’s passion and gave it a commercial face. Furqan also agrees, that Pakistan has the capability to make excellent artisan cheese in both ways: raw material (milk) and skill (human hands) and has the potential to export and for import substitution. They source their milk from one of the biggest milk suppliers, which ensures that the milk is properly handled, tested and supplied.
“Lack of local cheese cultures and specialized equipment was one of the challenges we faced as a small scale cheese-making company.”, said Furqan. “Initially, we had to pay double the amount to get some cheese cultures and mold imported, as we were too small scale for large suppliers.”
In conversation with Mr. Furqan, I asked him about his favorite cheese and what makes it so unique. “I particularly like making camembert more for the fact that I can visually see the maturation process day by day. I can see the white bloomy grind, which is a good sign for camembert cheese.” Its as if one is watching their baby grow.
Continuing with the interview, he told us that the cheese makers support each other as well, be it the cheese-makers from Lahore, or Karachi itself. Karacheese, Vittles, Farmers Cheese Making are some of the others who are producing artisan cheese locally. The journey for Pakistanis to adapt and prefer locally made artisan cheese is long, and weary, but with so many cheese-makers entering the game, people will soon choose artisan cheese oer processed. As consumers, we must encourage local manufacturers instead of imports. Not only it will boost our economy but also motivate others to enter this industry.