Say Cheese!!

It was one of the most awaited tours that I was looking forward to knock off my list. And I should say, it was more than well worth the wait. The day trip to Manchar yet again brought out the adventurists in us as we, after a couple of starting troubles,  got all set to embark on what was one supremely interesting trip.

After the 4 hour long drive from Mumbai, the day tour was structured as two-fold: a visit to the Dairy Farm followed by a visit to Asia's largest cheese factory. Post a sumptuous lunch atop a hill, we visited the Bhagyalakshmi Dairy Farm. The entire farm was founded by Mr. Devendra Shah, a Gujarati Jain. The guy obviously loves his cows quite much - it was apparent from the way the farm, containing 3000 cows (1000 milking cows), all of the Finnish Holstein-Friesian breed, is maintained. They have automated Rotary Parlors for milking the cows. Its a farm that has mechanized the whole milking process and in turn maximized quality and hygiene of the produce. Each of the cows is identified with a biometric tag hung around her neck which traces back the cow's historical details since its birth. The systemic manner in which they maintain all the details about the cows - about her medical history, output capacity, choice of music, etc. - is on par with some of the best record keeping standards. The focus on cleanliness is obvious - there are well laid out detailed cleaning procedures, exclusive cow free-gazing areas with brushes on the walls to rub themselves against itching. Vaccines and other treatments are provided at periodic intervals for the cattle as part of their regular health check-up. They even have Chilling Sheds during peak summer to reduce the temperature. These cows apparently listen to Classical music, Jazz/Rock bands and FM with equal interest.

What's also interesting is the way in which they take care of the little ones. The day old to month old calves are maintained in a separate section which is off the tourists' reach, primarily owing to their lower immunity levels soon after their birth. They are maintained in a far more secure environment and the new borns are fed with the Colostrum within a few hours of their birth and sufficient mothers' milk during the initial few months to ensure adequate protection from anti-bodies. They are also very clear about the place being a strict no-no for Slaughters, even after the cows' death.

Now for some statistics - the farm has an overall capacity of about 1 lakh litres per day with some of the exceptional ones singly yielding about 40 to 50 litres per day. True to their maxim of  "Minimal human effort, maximum milk produce", the USP of the place is the pure milk that is given to customers without human touch directly ( they call it the "Cow to Customer" Concept). Of course all this comes at a premium and the milk output from here is sold at Rs. 70 a litre (under the "Pride of Cows" brand), making it slightly out of reach for the masses (admittedly, their customers.

Next on course was the cheese factory visit. True to its stature of being Asia's largest, the factory of Gowardhan was a gastronomic feast to the eyes and the taste buds, capable enough to melt even the  hard hearted. The child in us came out as we were taken through the entire process right from standardization and culturing the milk, cutting it to separate the why from the milk solids (Curds), draining, pressing and curing it. The plant has an overall output capacity of approx. 10 lakh litres per day. The snacks laid out at the end of a day was a sumptuous end to an interesting day and the gift hampers containing samples of several varieties of cheese ensured that we gush about it every single day while we gorge on our Cheese Sandwiches and bask in their memories for a long, long time.

Go, Gowardhan!