Feiraco, Spain
Launch of Laban fermented milks

In cooperation with Chr. Hansen, the leading dairy cooperative society of Galicia, Feiraco, has launched a range of fermented milk products called Laban. They are essential in the Arab diet.

Fact box


Company: Feiraco, Spain
www.feiraco.es

Product: Laban, fermented milk product with health properties

Chr. Hansen input: Cultures & trials

Laban is an acid type of cow milk with a texture very similar to kefir, though slightly more liquid. This type of milk has a high nutritional value, and it has a beneficial effect on the gastrointestinal passage. This food product, originally from Lebanon, is essential in the diet in Arab countries.

A business opportunity

Feiraco, one of the leading dairy cooperatives in Spain, has been the first company to see that approx. 700.000 Arabs living in Spain are not able to find in supermarkets one of the basic products in their nutritive habits: Laban.

In 2006, this was changed through a working partnership between the Dairy Products Division of the University of Santiago, the cooperative Feiraco and Chr. Hansen.

Trials led the way

The development project was 2 years under way and included extensive research and trials.

"From the beginning we made a study of viability from all perspectives, and realized an important number of trials in collaboration with the Dairy Products Division of the University of Santiago and the leader within dairy cultures, the global ingredients producer Chr. Hansen," says José Luis Antuńa, Feiraco's General Manager.

"We have obtained the wished quality standards with the cultures from Chr. Hansen, among them CHN-22, and the Arab community in Spain has finally received a product with cultural roots."