🧀 OSM Sierpc

OSM Sierpc is the Regional Dairy Cooperative in Sierpc (Okręgowa Spółdzielnia Mleczarska w Sierpcu), a Polish cooperative that has been making cheese in Masovia since 1927. It is owned by Polish capital and processes milk from about 1,600 farmers in the region.

Production runs at two plants, in Sierpc and Żuromin, about 30 km apart. The cooperative specialises in ripened cheeses: by its own figures it makes about 60 tonnes of them a day. The rest of the milk goes into Italian-type cheeses and twaróg, the Polish curd cheese. Since 1995 the cooperative has been modernising and extending its cheese lines.

The main ranges are Królewski, a ripened Swiss-type cheese with nutty notes, also sold as Light and smoked; Kasztelan, Dutch-type cheeses (classic, creamy and smoked) plus a golden Swiss-type variant; Markiz, a Swiss-type cheese made with the culture Lactobacillus paracasei; and Capri, an Italian-type ball made from whey and pasteurised milk. For children the cooperative makes Pikserki cheese, and its catalogue also lists Gouda, Edam and Maasdam.

According to the labels, the ripened cheeses of OSM Sierpc are made from milk, salt and cultures without preservatives, and contain less than 0.01% lactose. They are sliced for sandwiches, grated into bakes and pasta, or served on a cheese board.

The cooperative is listed under Polish cheeses and semi-hard cheeses: it shows how Polish cooperatives make cheeses in the style of Emmental and Gouda from local cow's milk.