NCBA - National Cooperative Business Association

09/14/2021 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/14/2021 14:50

U.S. Embassy Santo Domingo’s Chargé D ‘Affairs highlights the progress made by a USDA Safe Agriculture Food Export (SAFE) project cheese processor in the Dominican Republic

Ms. Reyna de los Santos

On August 19th, 2021, a joint delegation of the United States Embassy Santo Domingo and the local U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) office visited the medium sized dairy & cheese processor, 'Fábrica de Quesos ROTTIS, SRL', supported by NCBA CLUSA's USDA-funded Safe Agriculture Food Export (SAFE) project.

Robert W. Thomas, Charge D 'Affairs, led the delegation accompanied by Frederick Giles, Agricultural Counselor to the US Embassy Santo Domingo, and were received by Eduard Rottis, and Juan Franciso Pérez, co-owners Quesos Rottis. Cley Brito, President of the Dairy Producers Association of Luperón (ASOGALUP), and Bienvenido Ripoll, Vice-President of the Federation of Livestock Producers of the North Region (FEDEGANORTE) also participated in the visit.

'Fábrica de Quesos ROTTIS, SRL' established in 2013 is a family-owned cheese processor dedicated to the manufacturing of various cheeses for international and local markets. They have annual revenues of >USD 970,000. Approximately 70% of their production of their Dutch 'Tipo Holandés' cheese is exported to the U.S. and the remaining production sold locally in national supermarkets such as CCN, La Sirena, Jumbo, and other retailers.

During his welcoming remarks, Mr. Rottis was able to highlight the progress made by the cheese processor from its inception. 'Back in 2013 we started with one Milk Collection Center (MCC) and 22 supplier producers, processing just 1,600 liters of raw milk per day, and a production of 300 pounds of cheese per day of only four types of cheese: Dutch ('Tipo Holandés'), Yellow (frying), White (frying), and Mozzarella. Eight years later, we collect milk from five MCCs and 130 producers, process 7,000 liters per day (only grades A & B) for 1,600 pounds of cheese per day. We produce eight types of cheese plus one (1) additional product, in the following percentages: Dutch 'Tipo Holandés' (60%); Yellow for frying (10%); White for frying (20%); Danish (3%); Gouda (2%); Mozzarella (1%); 'De Hojas' (1%); Edam (2%), and Yogurt (1%)… In the future, we would like to export other products to the USA, especially to take advantage of the market on the East coast conformed by a large community of Dominicans living abroad that know our products…' he said.

Afterwards, SAFE's Chief of Party, Cesareo Guillermo, indicated that in 2016, the project conducted one of its first on-site assessments of dairy manufacturers along with TAMU's Borlaug Institute that provided recommendations to improve ROTTIS' infrastructure and manufacturing practices to comply with industry food safety and SPS standards. SAFE also provided technical assistance to improve ROTTIS' Quality Control Management System in preparation for a successful USDA Food & Drug Administration (FDA) audit in 2018, along with DIGEMAPS-Dairy, that permitted them to continue exporting; fostered linkages with potential buyers; strengthened organizational capacity to develop a business plan that identified alternative capital investments and cost/benefit analyses; assisted DIGEMAPS and INDOCAL to perform on-site audits for compliance with local regulations and the Seal of Quality (SoQ), as well as provided technical assistance to nearby milk collection centers (MCCs) and suppliers.

One such supplier is Ms. Reyna de los Santos (pictured above), a small farmer that started her dairy farm with two cows and today has 32. She supplies to one of ROTTIS's MCCs and has increased the quality of her milk thanks to her outstanding participation in one of SAFE's Livestock Farmer Field Schools (LFS) and a new milking parlor provided by a project grant. Ms. Reyna operates her dairy by herself while she considers her husband to be 'one of my biggest supporters '.

'We got to know ROTTIS because of PROGANA (SAFE)…', former DIGEMAPS' Dairy Department Chief, Dr. Felix Aquino, had said on a previous follow-up visit. This is no surprise, ever since one of the SAFE's objectives is to strengthen key stakeholders, both public and private, in order not to duplicate efforts but to contribute to building local, long-lasting capacities.

Mr. Thomas congratulated everyone for the great job done and highlighted the assistance provided by the United States through projects like this, under the excellent guidance of USDA, helps strengthen the relations with a partner country like the Dominican Republic to prosper together, as two democracies that consider shared lessons learned, successes and failures, and share such knowledge to grow side by side as partners.

At the end of the visit, the U.S. delegation sampled ROTTIS' different cheeses, along with some artisanal produce from the Luperón area. At this moment, the US Embassy Charge D 'Affairs showed his satisfaction for certain products and said that he would become an advocate for ROTTIS' cheeses wherever he goes.

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The USDA-funded $16.2 million Food for Progress (FFPr) Safe Agriculture/Food Export (SAFE) project (known locally as PROGANA), strengthens the beef and dairy value chains in the Dominican Republic. It is being implemented between September 2015 and December 2021 and is led by the National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA) with local technical support from the Junta Agroempresarial Dominicana (JAD), Texas A&M University's Borlaug Institute for International Agriculture and GENEX Cooperative. The project focuses on eleven provinces with high concentrations of small and medium beef and dairy producers seeking to improve their production and expand trade while also supporting the Dominican Republic Beef Inspection System to achieve the reinstatement of USDA/Food Safety Inspection Service (FSIS) equivalence standards to access new trade markets for raw beef products.