When it comes to positioning oneself in such a competitive market as the food industry, marketing and market research work is important, but there is nothing like the quality of the products to open doors. And that is precisely what VillaCorona Cheese offers: quality and respect for traditional production processes.
«The company was created in 1986 to sell fresh cheese in Zaragoza, over time the customer has been asking us for more and more products, but our philosophy remains the same». These are the words of David de Jaime, commercial director of the brand, who highlights the fact that the recipe for fresh cheese has not changed in all this time: «It is very important for us, because there has been a lot of evolution, technology that makes it have more performance but causes it to lose flavor, and this is not our case. We have always wanted to make the best fresh cheese on the market». That is why VillaCorona’s fresh cheese, unlike the rest of the products, preserves the original brand with which they started: Quesos El Burgo, in which they play with the name of the type of cheese (from Burgos) they make and the town where it is manufactured.
The affection they put into the elaboration of their products is already noticeable in the choice of raw material, milk from their farms in the Pre-Pyrenees. This allows them to control the entire production process, as De Jaime explains: «We see that the market is totally full of industrial products, we are Aragonese and we want to produce a product out of the ordinary, we did not want to produce an industrial product that was more of the same. We always have to go for quality and that is what we want to do».
A philosophy that they apply to all their products: milk, fresh cheeses in all their varieties, semi-cured and cured cheeses, dairy desserts… and also in the latest addition: the yogurts without preservatives or colorants that they began to produce 12 years ago: «They are very successful, they only contain milk and ferments, we do not take any protein out of them. It is a totally artisan product«, says VillaCorona’s commercial director, who assures that this simplicity has opened the doors of many school canteens: «For example, the strawberry yogurt is white, we don’t see any need to add coloring. It tastes like strawberry because it has a natural addition that tastes like strawberry». Precisely because of these extraordinary production and processing requirements, some of the VillaCorona cheeses have the differentiated quality seal C’alial of the Government of Aragon, as is the case of the cured cheese with the C’alial seal, with 100% sheep’s milk.
An Aragonese company that aspires to grow throughout Spain.
With this care in the elaborations and respect for the traditional as its calling card, Quesos VillaCorona wants to replicate its good sales in Aragon in other Autonomous Communities: «We want them to know our quality there too. It costs a lot more because there is more competition, but it is the next step. We know that if they try us they will stay with us, because they will see that it is a very high quality product».
The company has a turnover of around 5 million euros a year, and sells between 60 and 70 percent of its production in Aragón, both in distribution chains and in the hotel and catering trade. This duality has helped them to cope with the consequences of the pandemic: «We have sold more in supermarkets and convenience stores, but less in restaurants. Some products have stopped selling and others have sold more, but we have come out of it and we are strong,» says De Jaime.
More than three decades of growth thanks to the support of its customers.
When he looks back, he does it with pride, and recognizing to whom they owe their success: «In this time the market and society have changed… but the fact that we have customers who want to support a local company, who value proximity and quality over price, makes us very proud».
And, if we are going to dream, the VillaCorona commercial director’s wishes for the future remain in Aragón: «I think there are still people who don’t know us. I would like all Aragonese people to try us, because I know that just by doing so we would gain many customers».
Because that is the great secret of the company’s success for David de Jaime: «Believing in yourself and in the quality of the product you make».
