It was 1957 when the professor of the University of Salamanca, Luis Cortés Vazquez, published his book “Las ovejas y la lana en Lumbrales”, perhaps in an attempt to preserve the pastoral customs and culture as well as the good ways of the shepherds in Salamanca.
In the first pages of his book, Fernando Fregeneda “El Pájaro” and his 25-year-old son are quoted. He not only quotes them but also thanks them for the information and help provided in order to write the book. These people were the grandfather and father, respectively, of one of the souls of Quesería La Antigua de Fuentesaúco, Fernando Fregeneda Chico. This is the first written record we have found of our pastoral origins. We know that there were two previous generations, so we can proudly say that we are the fifth generation of shepherds.
Returning to the book by Luis Cortés, many years have passed but these customs and ways of working with sheep and cheese are still reflected in his book. There are many years of history and generational work, such as milking, grazing in the fields and caring for the sheep.
We have immersed ourselves in this book because it reflects what we really want to do: to return to our origins, making cheese as it was done in the old days. That is the SUMMUM philosophy: the rebirth of customs and good work.
When the company Gestión Agro Ganadera (GAG) was created in 1994, a company dedicated to the purchase and subsequent sale of sheep’s milk, we didn’t even think at the time that we had the necessary knowledge to make good cheese. The company began its journey collecting milk in Castilla y León and exporting it to countries such as Portugal and Holland.
Later, an old cheese factory in the town of Fuentesaúco, Zamora, was acquired as a milk collection center. We were already aware of the importance of educating our farmers and producers about livestock, care and feeding. We knew that this was essential to obtain a good quality product such as our sheep’s milk.
To date, and with annual sales of 23 million liters of milk, we are already a national and European benchmark.
But the story doesn’t end there. Since the creation of GAG, there has been a dream: to make the best sheep cheese in Spain. But it was not easy, since dreams and words are one thing, and it is quite another to carry them out. For this reason, and adding to what we already knew by tradition, we began to learn from the great cheese masters of Spain, always with humility and respect for the work they had already been doing for some time.
The first step was to join the Zamorano Cheese Designation of Origin, a reference of very good cheese both nationally and internationally. Later we began to implement quality systems, such as BRC or IFS, and new technological advances in this field, all with the sole purpose of being a reference in the world of cheese.
We believe that we are on the right track to achieve this and our presence in the PREMIUM area of the Alimentaria Barcelona 2012 trade fair is a great proof of this. There we will present our new product line LA ANTIGUA SUMMUM.
What is Summum for us? The transformation of the words that Luis Cortés recorded in his manuscript into facts.
To achieve this, first of all there was a selection of dairy farmers with whom we have been working for many years: farmers who pamper their herds, grazing them, looking for and offering them the richest pastures. The milk to create the SUMMUM line comes from the Sardinian, Churra and Castilian breeds. This milk followed a strict and exhaustive control from the moment of collection until its total transformation into cheese.
The cheese is made with raw milk from the breeds mentioned above, animal and natural rennet from the stomachs of suckling lambs, and salt.
Once the milk had been processed, the cheeses produced were monitored daily, with daily turning over. We studied the evolution of the product, rejecting the pieces that did not meet the required standards to be considered SUMMUM. Little by little the SUMMUM pieces developed a completely natural flora in their bark. These cheeses followed tasting controls and only certain lots were chosen to be considered SUMMUM.
We are aware of the importance of product image nowadays. That is why we accompany our creation with a completely innovative and modern presentation.
In this life everything should be governed by the pursuit of one’s dreams. Our dream was to name our cheese. We already have a name for our dream and it is called LA ANTIGUA SUMMUM.
