Article Archive - February 23, 2007

Mozzarella di Bufala introduces Americans to new type of milk

Editor’s note: Each month, CMN profiles a different cheese, giving our readers a comprehensive look at production, marketing and sales, as well as any other interesting details we can unearth. Please read on to learn about this month’s featured cheese: buffalo’s milk.

By Amelia Buragas

MADISON, Wis. — Many Americans are tempted to try buffalo’s milk cheese first through Mozzarella di Bufala. After all, Mozzarella consistently tops the nation in terms of consumption and is familiar and “safe.” However, they quickly discover that Mozzarella and Mozzarella di Bufala are very different products.

“The Mozzarella that’s made in America has one thing it’s missing,” says Lara Postiglione, La Mozzarella, Chicago. “It’s missing flavor.”

La Mozzarella imports Italian buffalo’s milk cheeses and caters to high-end restaurants and a handful of retail clients. Postiglione says that Americans douse fresh Mozzarella with olive oil and salt because they are used to a milder version of the cheese.

“People have this preconceived notion that Mozzarella shouldn’t have flavor,” Postiglione says. “Mozzarella di Bufala can be eaten by itself.”

Postiglione says the comparison between a fresh cow’s milk Mozzarella and Mozzarella di Bufala is “night and day.”

While Mozzarella di Bufala is the main variety of buffalo’s milk cheese found in the United States, it certainly is not the only variety on store shelves. Ricotta as well as various types of smoked and aged Mozzarellas also are common, as is yogurt made with water buffalo’s milk.

• Coming to America

The two largest companies in the United States that specialize in producing and marketing buffalo’s milk products maintain their herds and businesses on opposite coasts.

Bubalus Bubalis (named for the scientific name of the water buffalo) operates a traditional Italian homestead-style operation in the Northern California town of Bangor. The company also has offices in Gardena, Calif., just outside of Los Angeles.

In addition to Mozzarella di Bufala, Bubalus Bubalis produces buffalo’s milk Ricotta, smoked Mozzarella and Provoletta, an aged Mozzarella. Bubalus Bubalis caters both to the retail and foodservice markets and the company’s products can be found in a number of Southern California supermarkets, including Albertsons.

Bubalus Bubalis maintains a herd of approximately 250 buffalo.

David Muller founded The Woodstock Water Buffalo Co. (formerly Star Hill Dairy), South Woodstock, Vt., in 2002, specifically to produce buffalo’s milk cheese. Today, the company also produces a very popular buffalo’s milk yogurt.

“He wanted to make an authentic water buffalo Mozzarella,” says Carey Clifford, director of marketing, Woodstock Water Buffalo, of the company’s founder. “Muller brought people over from Italy and taught our people the authentic way to make cheese. The yogurt kind of just happened by accident almost.”

Muller developed the initial yogurt recipe himself. Today, Woodstock Water Buffalo makes it buffalo’s milk yogurt in a variety of flavors, including Plain, Lowfat Plain, Vanilla, Vermont Honey, Vermont Maple, Vermont Cappuccino, Vermont Black Currant, Vermont Strawberry, Blueberry, Raspberry and Chai.

Woodstock Water Buffalo currently has a 550-head herd with 200 milking head. The initial herd was cobbled together from existing herds in Florida, Texas and Arkansas. Clifford says herd growth now is conducted internally and the company imports bull semen from Italy, where cows have been bred for centuries to produce milk. Even so, the average water buffalo produces 10 to 20 pounds of milk per day. This pales in comparison to traditional dairy cows, which can produce 60 to 80 pounds per day.

Hugh Popenoe, president, American Water Buffalo Association, says a rough estimate puts the total number of water buffalo in the United States at 20,000. The largest herds are in California, Texas and the Midwest, although Popenoe says water buffalo are hardy and can live in most lowland areas as well as parts of Canada. Popenoe says there is large demand for heifers, which is spurring moderate growth in the industry.

“They only have one calf a year and half are males,” Popenoe says of why water buffalo number are not increasing more quickly.

Water buffalo also are produced for meat, which mainly is consumed by ethnic minority groups.

There are two main varieties of water buffalo. Swamp buffalos are from China and Southeast Asian and are used for draft purposes. They can be identified by their broad horns and lightly colored legs. River buffalos have tightly curled horns and originated from India and Pakistan. They primarily are used for dairy and meat production. Water buffalos can vary greatly in size, but an average buffalo would be 59 to 74 inches tall at the shoulders and weigh 1,500 to 2,600 pounds.

• Celebrating the differences

Water buffalo convert any carotene into vitamin A so the milk they produce is pure white. Water buffalo’s milk also has a very thick consistency due to a high solids content. In general, water buffalo’s milk contains 4.5 grams of protein and 8.0 grams of fat compared to the average cow’s milk content of 3.2 grams of protein and 3.9 grams of fat.

A 1-ounce serving of Mozzarella di Bufala produced by Bubalus Bubalis contains 87 calories, 7 grams of fat and 5 grams of protein. A 6-ounce container of Woodstock Water Buffalo’s Plain Water Buffalo Milk Yogurt contains 150 calories, 12 grams of fat and 6 grams of protein. Woodstock Water Buffalo also fortifies its yogurts with probiotic cultures.

Clifford says water buffalo are very similar to dairy cows in terms of the milking process, which Woodstock Water Buffalo has taken advantage of to outsource some of the company’s milking. Rather than building new facilities to accommodate the company’s growing herd, Woodstock Water Buffalo searched out local partnerships.

“We searched for existing dairies that were underutilized or non-operational,” Clifford says. “Now they are milking part of our herd.”

Clifford notes many of these farms will be milking Holsteins on one side of the parlor and water buffalo on the other — a situation that both fulfills Woodstock Water Buffalo’s needs as well as the company’s commitment to reinvigorate Vermont’s dairy industry.

While finding and replacing stock is a challenge for companies that produce dairy products made with buffalo’s milk, it is not the largest hurdle they face. Mozzarella di Bufala is a product meant to be consumed fresh. In Italy, it is not uncommon for the cheese to be sold a day after it is made and Italian consumers consider a cheese more than two to three days old past its prime.
• The clock is ticking

“I would say that the main challenge in the United States is distribution,” says Grazia Perrella, Bubalus Bubalis. “It must be consumed fresh, but in order to distribute the cheese it takes time.”

Perrella says Bubalus Bubalis produces cheese every day and cheese is sent to the company’s distributors the day after it is made. Even so, the shortest time that cheese makes it to East Coast markets is one week.

“It is still very, very fresh,” Perrella says. “But the idea is to be able to make a Mozzarella that will keep the freshness longer.”

Perrella says her company has experimented with the make procedure to produce a slightly harder cheese that will soften over time. Still, she says her consumers prefer to receive their buffalo’s milk cheeses within two to three days after it is made.

Customers who absolutely demand this kind of freshness can order directly from Bubalus Bubalis’s website and receive their orders within two to three days. However, they pay a premium for this service of $15 per pound for Mozzarella di Bufala and $10 per pound for Ricotta, not including shipping costs.

Clifford says Woodstock Water Buffalo distributes its Mozzarella di Bufala mainly to regional specialty food shops partly because of its short shelf-life. The company’s yogurt, which has a 70-day shelf-life, is distributed nationwide.

Importing Italian-made Mozzarella di Bufala equally is a challenge. Postiglione says La Mozzarella makes it a priority to deliver cheese to their customers as quickly as possible. The cheese is never stored and is delivered straight to the customer straight off the airplane.

“That’s our goal, and that’s how we keep our customers happy,” Postiglione says.

• Spreading the word

In addition, Perrella says there is some resistance from consumers to trying cheese made with the milk of an “exotic” animal. However, she notes that with companies such as Bubalus Bubalis producing Mozzarella di Bufala in the United States, it presents an excellent opportunity for consumers to try one of the world’s delicacies.

“In the United States, you can have fresh water buffalo’s milk Mozzarella on the level of the Italian one,” Perrella says. “Try to experience that.”

Clifford notes that on the flip side, many consumers don’t even realize Mozzarella di Bufala is produced using milk from the water buffalo.

“There is a learning curve and education process,” Clifford says.

Clifford says Woodstock Water Buffalo has developed very aggressive growth plans, and its long-term goals are to saturate the nation’s natural food stores to raise consumer awareness. The company then plans to make a foray into mainstream supermarket chains. Woodstock Water Buffalo also has new cheese and yogurt varieties in the works, including a Smoked Mozzarella.

Postiglione says her company has run into a lack of product awareness from retail chains. La Mozzarella recently approached a nationwide natural food store about carrying authentic Italian Mozzarella di Bufala.

“They said it seemed salty; that made us laugh,” Postiglione says. “People seem to think Mozzarella should not have any flavor. The general public doesn’t have any idea and the majority of people don’t know what it is.

“It will be interesting in 10 years to see how it turns out,” she says.

In Italy, Mozzarella di Bufala Campagna is a name-protected product, and it only can be produced in certain regions of the country including Naples, Frosinone, Latina and Rome. Postiglione says American companies are capable of producing very good cheese using buffalo’s milk, but she is not concerned they will eliminate the need for imports.

“Will it be the same? No, there’s no way,” Postiglione says. “I don’t think you can recreate the land from Italy.”

Postiglione believes that the land buffalos graze on infuses their milk with a unique flavor, a flavor that cannot be replicated. She says even a cheese made in Milan would be missing something essential to have that authentic Italian flavor.

CMN

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