Story about the Cooperative

Creation of the Cooperative

Until the 1930s the production of cheese in the Pays-d’Enhaut was in constant decline. Faced with this situation which was due essentially to problems of marketing arising from a drop in quality caused by the poor storage conditions in chalet cellars the ‘amodiateurs’ (land officers) of the region decided to form a cooperative in 1932.

The History

of the L’Etivaz AOP Alpine Cheese Producer Cooperative
L’Etivaz AOP
Story about the Cooperative -
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1934

In 1934

In 1934, the construction of the cellars in L’Etivaz marked the first step. With a storage capacity for 2,700 wheels of cheese there was enough room for all 30 members of this initial cooperative to store their cheeses.

In 1946

In 1946

In 1946 the cooperative extended its range of activity to include all of the Vaudois Alps. It built a loft with a storage capacity sufficient to hold 3,000 cheese wheels in order to be able to produce L’Etivaz à rebibes.

In 1974

In 1974

The continued increase in production caused the cooperative to enlarge its cellars in 1974. Soon afterwards, however, the cellars were again too small to hold all the cheese produced, and some wheels had to be stored down on the plain. The announcement of the closure of the cellars of the Federation of Dairies in Vevey forced the cooperative to reorganise.

1986

In 1986

This extension carried out in 1986 made it possible to repatriate the whole ripening process to the cradle of the cheese production. The storage capacity was increased to hold 14,000 wheels of cheese. Thus in time the producers of L’Etivaz OAP alpine cheese created work facilities which met both their own specific needs and the increasingly demanding ones of the market.