Cheese Factory in Khulo

The first Cheese Factory in Ajara, Natural Produktsia Ltd was officially opened in Dioknisi, Khulo Municipality.

Construction of the factory started in April, 2015 and has been functioning since October. Natural Produktsia Ltd is the first and only cheese factory in upper Ajara producing Imeruli cheese currently at the largest scale in Georgia. The factory is set up with modern equipment and is producing cheese in accordance with FS&H standards. The factory collects milk from 22 villages of Khulo municipality from more than 300 farmers, who have now have a source of daily income. The factory processes up to 6 tons of milk daily and makes Imeruli cheese, Sulguni cheese, cottage cheese and butter. It employs 23 local farmers, out of which 11 are women. The factory is the sister factory of the family enterprise Tzesari Ltd whose factory in Sakdrioni village Tsalka produces sulguni which is sold in Carrefour in Tbilisi and in the Batumi Agrarian Market, leading hotels, such as Hilton, Sheraton, Radisson; restaurants - Porto Franco, Munchen, Pier Batumi, Riviera; supermarkets like Goodwill, Nugeshi, Nikora, Ialchin, Willmart, Absolute, etc.

Natural Produktsia Ltd started its journey in 2011, when the Director of the Company, Arkadi Kakhadze got involved in the family business and started distribution of Sulguni cheese in Ajara as a wholesaler from his brother Tsezari’s factory in Tsalka.  During the tourist season, volume of the cheese sold was about 2.5 tons, as it was getting popular for its high quality and special taste. The company had a stable market for sulguni cheese amongst supermarkets, hotels and restaurants, but recognized the unserved market segment of compliant, factory produced Imeruli cheese which makes up 80% of market demand. Also, due to the lack of cheese processing enterprises in Ajara region, the raw milk market was untapped. Thus Arkadi Kakhadze decided to use the family experience and build a new factory in Khulo municipality.

The opening was attended by the Minister of Agriculture of Ajara, representatives of Municipality Gamgeobas, the National Food Agency and the Donor Organization.