President to meet cheesemakers in growing Halloumi milk ratio debate

President Nikos Christodoulides will be meeting with cheesemakers on January 4 it emerged on Sunday, a day after cattle farmers threatened to dump milk outside the presidential palace.

On Saturday the cattle farmers threatened the action in protest to cheesemakers warned they would shut shop at the beginning of the year in a growing debate over Halloumi’s PDO status.

According to government sources on Sunday, the president will meet with the cheesemakers in the afternoon to discuss the agreement made on Halloumi.

The cheesemakers association had previously called for the new regulation which would need Halloumi to be made up of 19 per cent sheep and goat’s milk to be recalled.

On Saturday cattle farmers then held a snap meeting and announced that if the cheesemakers close shop, then starting January 10, any milk they produce will be taken to the presidential palace.

“The government will then have to take care for processing and disposing it.”

The cattle farmers said this was “a matter of survival” because with the new milk ratio, this meant less cow milk would be used.

They suggested the government had the interests of “millionaire investors” at heart on the negotiations over halloumi’s PDO (protected designation of origin), saying the breeds selected were linked to those with the big sums of money.

Effectively, the government decree is scrapping the use of cow milk in halloumi and creating more demand for goat and sheep milk producers, the announcement said.