Why are we opening our doors to visitors? We want people to see at first hand how milk is turned into butter, cream, Camembert or AOC Pont L'Evêque. But we also want people to discover the history of this terroir and how these products earned their AOC status. It is a story of the land and the men who managed to shape it, respect it and extract a rich raw material.
© Isigny Ste Mère
Our consumers often live a long way from the countryside and we felt justified in offering them an objective and instructive view of our work and production methods. As they take you round, our guides are there to explain what is going on and to tell you about our trade and what makes us tick.
Since the creation of the Co-operative in 1932, we have always sought to marry tradition with innovation. At one time we only made butter: today, our skills in AOC products (butter, cream and cheeses) are well established. We are proud to show you our production facilities, which have enabled us to win more medals than any other food company in France.
Every year Isigny Sainte-Mère collects nearly 200 million litres of milk from its 1,000 Co-operative members. Samples are taken and analysed at set points, from the moment the milk is collected on the farms, throughout its passage through the Co-operative's facilities until it leaves as finished product. These stringent checks, made both upstream and downstream from the production processes tell us reliably and precisely the quality and provenance of what has gone into any one of our products.
On the production lines this can be seen in the application of our Hazard Assessment and Critical Control Point (HACCP) system, which operates in tandem with our ISO 9001 certification. On the farms we are putting in place Agri Confiance accreditation: this scheme monitors animal feeds, hygiene standards and the care taken to ensure the herd’s welfare.
This is a concern for traceability which gives the consumers of Isigny Sainte-Mère products a genuine pledge of food safety. What does this mean in practice? On the packaging for every cheese, creme or butter there is a batch number. Should there be any query relating to any product, this simple reference will allow us to check all the laboratory test results carried out on that product during its manufacture. This is what we mean by traceability, and it extends from stable to table.
© Isigny Ste Mère
It all starts with our crème fraîche, which is the only one in France to have the protection of Appellation d'Origine Controle status. You will see the care we take over the vital stages in the process: skimming, pasteurisation, seeding with natural lactic starters, the traditional slow fermentation and filling pots. Then you will learn how cream becomes butter, when it goes into a churn and is churned vigorously. You will have a complete explanation of how the cream separates into globules of butter and buttermilk, how it is mixed and washed.Nor should you leave without first seeing Camemberts being made by hand. You might also like to know that in 1985 we invented and built a robotic ladle unit to replicate the traditional hand filling of Camembert moulds with curd. It takes five ladlefuls of curd to make our Camembert.
Visitors can watch a short film to get an overview of all the stages in milk processing from milk collection to finished product. This presentation will give you a better understanding of Isigny Sainte-Mère, its historical context and the terroir.
Guided tours are scheduled for 10am, 11am, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm during the holiday months of July and August, from Monday to Friday. They can also be arranged by appointment at any other time of the year.
And don’t leave without looking round in our factory shop for a few suitable mementos!
Contact :
visite@isysme.com
+(33) 02 31 51 33 88
Isigny Sainte-Mère
2, rue du Docteur Boutrois
14230 Isigny-sur-mer
France
Access :
By road: take the exit marked Isigny le Port from the Route Nationale 13, the main road from Cherbourg to Paris.
> Click here for a road map
