The resurrection of El Caserío: "We make 65% of the cheese consumed abroad in Spain."

CitadelQuesería Menorquina, formerly known as El Caserío, is gradually returning to its roots after leaving behind the critical situation, on the brink of closure, first caused by the departure of Kraft in 2008, and then by the management of the Ruiz Mateos family. For ten years, between 2011 and 2021, the labor company created by the workers and the management team has allowed the Mahón plant to be sustained, but without escaping bankruptcy proceedings, until the influx of capital and new investors finally allowed it to turn the situation around.

Upon emerging from the pandemic, Eduard Soriano Torres, president of Isba and the Chamber of Commerce of Mallorca, contributed €1.7 million and became the majority shareholder. "I only set one condition: that the bankruptcy proceedings be lifted, and we achieved it. On May 2, 2022," Soriano recalls, "we began rowing to turn the company around."

"Why did I decide?" he asks. "It seemed absurd to me that, with the history, the workforce, and the production that Quesería has, it would go under," he explains. Although the war in Ukraine delayed its impact, the 2 million profit obtained in 2023 showed the way forward. "Now it's a fully normalized company with the necessary resources to operate."

Through his company SF Alimentación, Eduard Soriano owns 33% of the factory and, together with the logistics transport company Mascaró Morera, holds nearly 60% of the new board of directors. This has little to do with the balance maintained for nearly ten years by the previous management team, headed by Paco Tutzó (Menorca Asesores), and the workers who had survived the defeat at Rumasa, who shared 51% and 49% of the shares, respectively. Currently, they only retain 20% and 15%.

Despite acquiring a third stake, Soriano ruled out assuming the presidency, which remains in the hands of Paco Tutzó, "because he is from Menorca and the icon of the company." Other positions, such as Jesús Esparza, also remain on the board.

Mascaró Morera, which owns a quarter of the company, is one of the Menorcan companies with the highest turnover and projection. A leader in freight transport between the islands and the Peninsula, it has also recently acquired the bus company Transports Menorca. "A company that transports 12,000 tons off the island each year is a more than interesting ally," says Soriano.

With the numbers already in the black, the new managers' goal is to "return to the origins," when El Caserío absorbed the majority of the milk produced in Menorca and processed it. "But now we must not limit ourselves only to processed cheese, in portions or slices, but we must constantly adapt to market demand and diversify production," he adds. One of the upcoming developments will be selling cured cheese "in a special format. Not to compete with what is already sold in loaves, but as a complement that helps everyone."

New brands

The key will be the creation of new brands, a milestone that is still being managed. Meanwhile, the Maó plant continues to produce products for private labels from major retailers such as Lidl and makes cheeses for El Caserío and La Vaca que Riu. "Practically 65% of the cheese consumed abroad in Spain is made by us," he adds.

The cheese factory has a turnover of €50 million per year, but generates a financial turnover of €80 million, as it allocates €30 million to purchasing raw materials. Since 2023, its financial years have closed with a surplus, the most recent being around €3 million, and it has increased its staff (155 workers) and investment. The machinery and production systems have been renovated, and another €3 million is planned to be spent in the coming months, "without having any problems obtaining credit. The banks are on our side, we pay suppliers in less than 60 days, and we no longer owe anything." Only 400,000 euros of the million advanced by the Balearic Government to help him overcome his critical moment. "Unlike others"—he complains, without mentioning the Coinga case—"we have not received any non-repayable aid."

Eduard Soriano admits that "all at once, Quesería Menorquina kept me up at night, and I had to come to Menorca a lot," but since he has sorted out his new business direction, "it's already walking on its own, and all that's needed is monitoring."

The revival driven by the new owners and a drastic change in financial, sales, and production policies have been fundamental in making Quesería Menorquina a competitive company again. "It had a way of working that I still haven't fully understood. All the surplus milk from Menorca, some 20 million liters, was sent to the Peninsula, with the resulting additional transportation and marketing costs, which made it unprofitable," he notes. What's more, there was the paradox that, while Menorca's milk was being sold in Catalonia, "here we were consuming milk from abroad." The process has now been reversed, and it's working.