Summary

This investment project concerns a young farmer taking over his father’s sheep farm which produces cheese. The goal was to preserve the local traditions from older generations, whilst incorporating new and innovative ideas in the production and marketing process. 

Investment support from the Maltese Rural Development Programme was used to acquire new machinery and equipment for milking and producing cheese; install solar panels to generate renewable energy; set up a farm shop; carry out lab tests on the nutritional value of the products in order to improve their quality and range; and introduce new marketing methods to increase the farm’s profitability.

Results

The goal is to increase the farm’s production by 300% within three years.

The new processing room allows the farm to handle a larger quantity of milk and produce cheese of higher quality. 

The new processing room also allows for the creation of newer products such as sheep’s milk ice cream. The farm is the first local business to produce this product in the country. 

The farm shop has been partially completed and is now open to the public. This will attract customers who are interested in buying genuine local products directly from the farmer. Customers also have the opportunity to see the cheese making process while they shop.