Queso Casín Retains Demand as Production Narrows to Two Producers

Queso Casín is one of Asturias’s traditional foods covered by a Protected Designation of Origin (DOP). Its production is currently maintained by two dairies, Redes and Ca Llechi, which were the only participants representing the cheese at the 36th edition of the Certamen del Queso Casín in El Campu.

The two producers brought approximately 1,500 cheeses to the event. Each was sold for €10, and the available stock found buyers quickly. The sales contrasted with the difficulties involved in maintaining the supply chain behind the product.

Milk used for the cheese is currently sourced from Piloña. Natalí Lobeto, a producer at Quesería Redes and president of the Queso Casín DOP, said that this supply allows production to continue. She also said that Caso and Sobrescobio, areas historically associated with the cheese, no longer have farms specialising in milk production.

The reduction in local dairy farming has also been linked at the event to the loss of traditional activities and to difficulties in attracting new investment and businesses to rural areas. The presence of only two dairies has raised questions about succession in the sector and the future availability of the raw material.

Adrián Pumares, a Foro Asturias member of the regional parliament, said that activities of this kind would be difficult to maintain without dairy farms. He proposed making it easier for young people to enter the sector through the sale and rental of viable agricultural establishments.

Marcelino Marcos, the Principality’s minister for rural affairs and agricultural policy, said that funding for quality products had increased by 144% over the previous year. Queso Casín continues to appear in restaurants and in different gastronomic preparations, while the event’s sales showed demand for the product. Its DOP production nevertheless depends on securing milk, maintaining the two existing producers and attracting new entrants to the activity.