- The cooperative Etxe Gazna, founded in 1985 by seven farmers, was initially established in the village of Gotain. In 1992, however, the brine was moved to Zalgz, as the former was small. “We’re 80 partners in the cooperative today,” said Bettan Hoqui. Most of them are farmers who produce gas for sale, but there are also those who do it for home. In the area of Zalgz, the producers have the possibility of maturing, analyzing and storing gas without having to make large investments in the farm itself.
The project came about when the sector was in crisis and the price of sheep’s milk was reduced, as at that time many producers began to sell milk instead of gas. “It was then that we decided to collectively buy material so that we could carry out the work there and that each producer did not have to invest in a salting facility,” the colleague explains. In addition to facilitating the work of the producers who first joined the project, the drivers have been able to see that the cooperative has been greatly assisted by many young people who have subsequently started. “We take out a job of the young people starting to make a gas, and the start-up costs are also reduced,” he added.
The members of the cooperative make the gases in their homes and then take them to Zalgiz to carry out the healing process there. “We put a day of the week to bring gas, on Monday afternoon. When the weights arrive, and at the end of the year the cooperative charges the farmers EUR 1.25 a kilo of fresh gas,” he explained. The cooperative employs two workers to carry out work at Zalgize, which consists of cleaning, analysing and returning the gases that arrive at the plant. “In any case, farmers also carry out support shifts for cooperative workers based on the amount of gas they have brought.”
Successful fundraising to expand space
In Zalgz, only what is produced in Zuberoa itself and in the villages of Bearn and Baja Navarra that limit the area of Zuberoa. Moreover, in order to be part of the cooperative, the only condition is that the gas is made with milk produced by itself and not with purchased milk. Some 45 farms currently carry their gasses, and another 30 shop saleras and ferments that they sell in the cooperative. The trajectory of these years has been very referential and shows this is the success of the collection of the facilities in 2018.
“We raised more than 30,000 euros and more than 400 donors participated,” says Hoqui. The works of expansion of the saladero were carried out in 2020, and last October the festival of inauguration of the renovated space was held. A new spray room has also been installed for the collection and humidification of gas stations and a “ward” for the quarantine of specimens that have given rise to problems in the tests.