Our history began at the end of the 40s in Alaior, in a house which my family had occupied for over two hundred years. It was a difficult period, a time of shortages, and my paternal grandfather - a lively and ambitious man - decided to extend the scope of his humble grocery shop which, until that time, had been the family business. In this way he began to buy small amounts of fresh cheese from farmers intending to mature it himself and sell it in the shop, as well as distributing it to other business on the island.
What was known as the business was at the front of the house, while at the back, through a small internal patio, there was a vaulted structure which had been used as a cowshed. This was a picturesque and, at the same time, suitable space for my grandfather to begin to cure cheese.
The small business carried on like this throughout nearly a decade, but the sudden increase in business meant that it had to be transferred to somewhere larger. With this in mind, at the end of 50s my grandfather acquired a storehouse which at that time was on the outskirts of Alaior. In time, he bought three more on the same street. The storehouses were perfect as they had spacious cellars which were ideally for the ripening process.
Likewise, in the 60s the business became more established and prospered. On Mondays, the farmers would come their mule carts to leave cheese for the week. At that time, most of it was sent to Majorca by a few distributors, and other products from the country were also commercialised, such as animal food, fertilisers, seeds, wool, etc. My father was, then, a young man who had started to work in the business, and he remembers those challenging days as the real foundation of our company.
The years went by, and the company grew little by little: more and more farms came and left their cheeses in our storehouses/cellars, and extra hands were needed in order to sustain this growth. Throughout the 70s my father became committed to the company; one of his constant worries was to improve both the gastronomic and sanitary quality of the matured cheese. At that time the fresh cheese brought by the farmers left a lot to be desired. The fact that it came from different farms, with different production systems and raw materials, meant that the products were all different. My father's idea to solve the problem of quality and standardisation was to make it himself, although he would follow
specific practices for traditional cheese, and above all respect the use of raw milk.
In order to achieve this, he needed several years of planning, testing, purchase of machinery, etc. It was not easy to obtain a product which fulfilled my father's high expectations. Furthermore, there was hardly any cheese industry at that time in Minorca, and least of all using raw milk, so it was a big challenge for him to succeed in his objectives. Little by little and after endless trials, he obtained a high quality tasty cheese using raw milk and following the traditional methods which are used today. Naturally, that the fact that he made the cheese from scratch rather than just curing and distributing it brought about profound changes within the company. In 1985 he purchased premises on the industrial estate in Alaior; new techniques had to be learnt, the necessary machinery had to be purchased and workloads had to be re-organised, but step by step, the new La Payesa cheese started on a journey which continues to this day.
Now, after sixty years venture, the family's third generation has joined the company, and intends to maintain its high standards. However, this task does not consist solely in following a pre-determined path. The times in which we live, with easier structures, mean that there are new challenges in very different fields: new markets and possiblities, new practices and technology, surroundings in constant evolution, all require new strategies and having an open mind towards change. Our aim at this juncture, is, as it must be, to find the fragile balance which exists between traditional and innovation: remain alert so as not to lose sight of our heritage but, at the same time, set our sight on the future.