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Meet our producers #37 Geyseis tis Ioannas |
February 3, 2023Tyrosyra – Syros island | Τυροσύρα Τυροκομική
Tyrosyra Cheese Factory was launched in 2013 in Vyssa, Syros. After the closure of the sole cheese production cooperative VIOSYR, a small group of 4 producers wanted to utilize the livestock units they had and rescue the traditional recipes and cheese-making methods of the island. The unit is a family initiative that gradually has been passed on to the new generation so that the active people in production are between 25 and 30 years old and work together with passion and new ideas for development.
Tyrosyra produces two types of products. The yellow cheeses such as the famous and award-winning San Michalis, which is a PDO cheese of Syros, Fragosyriani, a 4-month and 8-month ripening gruyere of their own recipe and the white cheeses such as the PDO Kopanisti cheese which is a soft cheese of the Cyclades, sourdough cheese with thyme, oregano & pepper, garlic & pepper, basil pesto, sun-dried tomato, plain and goat’s milk when it is available. It also produces by-products such as fresh butter and Kalathouni myzithra from whey.
The cheese is made strictly within 16 hours of milking. Great attention is paid to all quality characteristics, from taste and ripening to salt. The good raw material ensures a good product in the end, which is what the target audience is looking for, as Tyrosyra is addressed to an informed and demanding consumer, which is why it cooperates with restaurants and small delicatessen in Syros, Athens and selected places in Greece and not with mass production shops. At the same time, 5% of the cheese goes abroad.
The milk is produced exclusively in Syros from cows of the cooperative but also in collaboration with other farmers, which, despite this year’s decline due to price increases that hampered the sector’s activity, is stable. In this way, they hope to motivate more young people to get involved in primary production and remain on the island despite the difficulties.
With Aegean Cargo Sailing, the cooperation started two years ago. As Yannis told us it seems like an excellent idea that, despite the need to upscale transport time, is an essential paradigm of environmentally conscious action that is so much needed today.
If you would like to taste Tyrosyra cheeses and visit their facilities in aristocratic Syros, then all you have to do is book our 7th tour for 2023: https://aegeancargosailing.org/…/2023-round-1-sea-trail-7/.