Ouwe Knar

De Mèkkerstee make the Ouwe Knar using the milk from Marius de Vlieger’s cows, who graze on Biostee’s resting crop fields. (See the Sustainability section below to read their wonderful story).

De Mèkkerstee is a family business that started out in 2001, in Ouddorp in the Dutch province of South Holland. Back then, the farm consisted of just a small stable, a simple cheese factory and 75 goats. Over time, the dairy have built a larger stable and professional cheese factory and now look after 650 goats on the farm. They also make cheese for a small number of other farmers.

One of the key values of the company is to share their cheese knowledge and show off the farm. They are open all day to the public, for free, and encourage everyone to visit the goats and learn about the cheese making process. The other top priority is to have happy goats; the animals are pampered and even have a ‘wellness area’, special nursery, cuddle corner for baby goats, and are cared for lovingly and professionally. They consume a 100% organic diet and are free to graze on vast grass, herb and clover fields for as long as the weather allows, then homegrown hay in the winter.

It is traditional and commonplace in the Netherlands for cheeses to be aged away from the dairies in which they are produced, due to space limitations. Ouwe Knar is aged by Treur Kaas, a business which was launched by Evert Treur, a farmer’s son, in 1955. The company began when Evert started selling cheese sourced from local farmers, from the back of his bicycle, to the local neighbourhood and cheese shops. By the end of that same year, he was successful enough that he needed a car and small warehouse, but could only initially buy one big enough to store 100 cheeses. Demand grew and Evert was able to buy larger and larger buildings, which he converted into warehouses, that could store 16,000kg of cheese initially, then 30,000kg, 120,000kg and finally 320,000kg of cheese. In 1981, the family built their own storage and maturing unit in Woerden, large enough to store 500,000kg of cheese. In 1995, Evert turned 65 and decided to retire, passing the business onto his sons. He was awarded a medal of honour for his contribution to the industry, having worked within it for 40 years.

Biostee is an organic agriculture and vegetable growing company based in the Hoeksche Waard, in the Netherlands. Three farmers, Ard van Gaalen, Arian de Jong and Pieter Hugo Visser, who met on an organic arable farming course in the late 1990s, run the company.
They founded Biostee in 2000 and each have their own farm in Zuid-Beijerland, on which they organically grow crops. The farms are incredibly sustainable and so the land goes through cycles of growing and resting on a 4/2 cycle (4 years growing, 2 years resting). This system ensures the farmland is never depleted and also significantly improves soil fertility, suppresses weeds and prevents soil diseases. Currently, the farmers alternate vegetables such as onions, celeriac, peas and potatoes with resting crops, such as grass and clover varieties, alfalfa, rye, barley and oats.

In the three farmers’ adjacent town, Strijen, 200 milk cows are cared for by farmer Marius de Vlieger. His cows have the great joy of grazing on the resting fields of the Biostee team, feasting on their crops, and, in turn, providing a nutrient rich, organic and unprocessed manure. This allows to sea clay soil to be kept in the very best condition.

De Mèkkerstee, a dairy in Ouddorp, are the lucky recipients of the cows’ fresh organic milk, and they go on to make this Ouwe Knar cheese.