The company
Welcome to the beautiful Bernese Jura. The Fromages Spielhofer company is situated in Saint-Imier.
Portrait
We produce the highest quality natural products. All our cheeses, as well as our mountain butter, are made from silage-free raw mountain milk. The “affinage”, i.e. the refinement and maturation, takes place in our own cellars. We are one of only seven cheese dairies authorised to produce the legendary Tête de Moine. Plus over 20 other semi-soft, hard and soft cheeses.
Many awards and distinctions show just how much we care about quality, in particular from the Swiss Cheese Awards but also at the Mondial du Fromage in Tours, France.
Spielhofer is certified according to ISO standard IFS Food, FSSC 22000, the Swiss Federal Mountain and Alpine Ordinance and is certified as organic.
Philosophy
Spielhofer is anchored in the region and has friendly relationships not only with its own staff but also with the suppliers who are exclusively farmers with close-to-nature production methods. We represent the highest quality processing. We use traditional processes, implemented using modern tools. We guarantee top quality, from the cows’ feed to the end product. Checks are carried out daily, at each stage of production through to the sales process. In particular, we apply the strictest hygiene provisions.
Facts & Figures
Litres of milk per year
15 million
Tête de Moine production and sales
1.5 million
Storage capacity for Tête de Moine
500’000
3’200
Tonnes of cheese per year
85
Staff (average, depending on season)
41
Age
History
In 1928, some milk suppliers set up the Cormoret Cheese dairy. The annual volume of 250,000 kg of milk delivered was mostly used as drinking milk and the rest was processed to make Gruyère.
Our commitment
Sustainability
Ecology and sustainability have always been an important subject at Spielhofer. We buy about 20 to 30% of wind energy from Mont Crosin. Thanks to our contract with Juvent SA, Spielhofer has been permitted to use the wind turbine label since 2004. About 15% of our electricity is solar energy which we produce ourselves. The rest of the required energy is hydroelectric. Thanks to these efforts, Spielhofer holds the “Opal” certification. This states that the Spielhofer dairy mainly uses sustainable energy.
Our company also emits little CO₂ by using natural gas.
The whey, a by-product of cheese production, is a valuable natural product which is used to the full. We pay attention to the environmentally-friendly production of packaging materials. As an aside: cows which are not fed with silage emit less methane gas.
