INTRODUCTION
CALCAR is a Cooperative Milk Producers founded in 1956 and from that date worked uninterrupted form as a Cooperative of Dairy Producers.
The Directive of the Company is set up by 5 producers elected every year. They meet weekly with the Management Team.
The Management Team is conformed with professionals to the front of each one of the following areas: General Management and Exports (Specialist Economist in Administration of Companies), Management of Extension (Engineer Agricultural Specialist in dairy production), Management of Production (Dairy Technician), Industrial Management (Industrial Mechanic Engineer), Management of Quality and Analysis (Veterinarian and Master in Food), Management of Sales (Marketing Technician), Management of Administration and Finances (Accountant and Administration Technician).
At the moment, the members are 140 producers that remit their production daily to the industrial plant, where the different products are elaborated.
The evolution in the remission of milk that received the industrial plant has been the following:

QUALITY OF MILK
All the milk that is received in CALCAR, comes tambos (farms) enables for MGAP, Official Sanitary Authority, with the sanity of its effective rodeos, that guarantees its participation in all the national programs against aftosa, brucellosis, tuberculosis, etc.
More than 90% of the milk rise to bulk of cool tanks and at the time of transport 100% of milk is lower than 8ºc.
The values meaning of the received milk in our industrial plant, is lower than 100.000 UFC and 450.000 C.S.
For our company the quality of the milk received is of great importance, because of that years, differential prices exist in function of the quality of milk received.

AGRONOMIC AND SOCIAL EXTENSION
CALCAR has a Department of Agronomic Extension that is directed by an Agricultural Engineer with 20 years of experience in milky production and it has a Veterinarian that supports and it guides ours producers in reference to the production and quality of milk. On the other hand, the Cooperative has a central warehouse and a service of purchases, where our producers are supplied of those necessary inputs for the production of their establishments.
From this department it is also developed and it consolidates in continuous form with the producers-partners of the Cooperative, assisting in permanent form, in relation productive topics technician.

PRODUCTS COMMERCIALIZATION 1 pasteurization milk, butter, cream of milk and cheeses. Late in ´70, it enlarged their market and daily it transported fresh milk from Canelones to Montevideo while it was still effective the monopoly.
During the period 1985-1997, the sales in the Uruguayan market were losing participated, and almost the total of Uruguayan Markets is concentrated on Pasteurized Fresh Milk.

Late in the 90´s, a change was processed in the commercial politics of the Cooperative and the importance was given to the Uruguayan Internal Market. This change allowed a great growth the volume of fresh milk for consumption, becoming CALCAR the 3th. Company in volume of supply in the market.
CALCAR developed a new line of products as yogurts, skim yogurts, milk shakes, with and without fruits, cream, processed cheeses, ricotta and butter.
With these products, CALCAR started with a strategic distribution in Montevideo City and at present is the most important volume and billing of our Cooperative.

EXPORTS
The first exports of cheeses were carried out late in the 60´s. The destination was Peru. After the commercial agreements with Brazil and Argentina (PEC and CAUCE) the exports began to these countries. Later was incorporated USA, Mexico, Venezuela, Chile and other markets distant as Russia, Canada and at the moment the Asian market is being explored.
In the international market, the cheeses are:

a) Hard, Italian type as Parmesan with ripening of 6 months and 1 year, Sbrinz and Goya.
b) Semi – hard Cheese as Gouda, in generally presented in bars of among 2,5 kgs. and 3,5 kgs., Mozzarella with the characteristics of product that are detailed in our technical file. This cheese can be adapted very well for the consumption in slices or grated in pizzerias and for general meals, Provolone Cheese is and Italian type, of filata pasta, in different presentations.
c) Maasdam Cheese, typical cheese of Dutch origin and other cheeses as Colonia, Danbo, Cuartirolo.

The evolution of the exports has been the following one:

CHEESE SALES
Nowadays, the quantity of these products sold by Calcar both in and out of the country, has been the following (in kilos)

INVESTMENTS
In the year 2000, Calcar invested in the enlargement of its factory, both in its capacity to collect and also to process milk, mainly in cheese manufacture. In the next years these investments have been complemented continuously. Currently, Calcar has two independent lines for milk pasteurization and standardization, one for liquid products and the other one specially for cheese manufacture. Due to the fact that each line has a capacity of 9000 liters per hour, our pasteurization and standardization capacity is approximately 400 thousand liters per day.

In our Cheese Dairy, we have 6 vats of 5.000 liters each one, that works with 10.000 liters. Capacity according with the level of pre-prensado as prensa y brine, or in case of Mozzarella Cheese, with an hiladora with 2.000 kilos/hour of process.

The high capacity of brine, allows us work with differences volumes for each kind of cheese.

We have chambers with a capacity to store 500 tons of Hard Cheese (Italian type), which allows us to double this quantity in one year, as the maturing period is 6 months.

For Soft and Semi-hard cheese, that require maintenance at a temperature below 5ºC, our capacity is 300 tons, combined with fresh products to be sold in the local market. All chambers have an automatic control for both temperature and moisture. Therefore, the conditions depend for each type of cheese requires.

ENVIRONMENT AND SOCIAL PARTICIPATION
The whey that results from our cheese production is destined to two establishments, both property of the Cooperative. One of them works with pigs, and has approximately 270 “mothers”, and the other works with bovines that are still drinking milk, and enter the establishment with approximately 70 kg.

The system gives priority to the feeding with whey, which is complemented with grains and pastures. Animals leave the system according to the availability of whey, having stayed an average of 180 days.

Moreover, the cooperative participates, with schools, in a program for the recollection of the polyethylene packages that contain the milk that is sold daily. This bags are then recycled to obtain residuals bags, both for families and institutions.
CALCAR gives support to schools with children with nutritional difficulties, programs for the adults men, sports events and local celebrations. CALCAR always participates locally in sports cultural, in general recreational and communitarian activities.

This social participation form many years now, is based on the concept of returning to society at least part of what society, in many ways, gives to our enterprise, and in the knowledge that these contributions help to overcome the different needs of our society.