The Iztueta dairy project was born in 1925 in Lazkao and several generations have passed from the Insausti family. Eñaut Sala Insausti and Marije Insausti, mother and son, are behind the project. Eñaut Sala said: “My mother has always told me that when I was young, they went down to the street with the donkey to deliver milk.” She also remembers how as a child she delivered milk at home with her mother. The traditional milk distributors in the villages began to lose some time ago, but the members of Iztueta have been able to adapt their production and mode of sale to the new times. But above all, they remain the same philosophy: making sustainable production over time.

From milk to yogurt and ice cream

They have about 35-40 cows in the Iztueta farmhouse, all of them born and raised at home, and grazing in the pastures. “We look a lot at animal welfare and respect for the environment in our daily lives,” explains the producer. Its predecessors produced milk and sold it directly, but in 1993 they began to market it. In 2004 they took another step and started pasteurizing milk, and in 2009 the first dairy machines of the CAV were installed in Ordizia, Lazkao and Beasain.

During all these years, the members of Iztueta have been dedicated to looking for new direct selling routes. When they began to bolster their milk, the barn raised the dairy and began to make yoghurt and ice cream in 2015. “We try to bring together tradition and innovation, making artisan products, but also using new technologies.” They make natural yogurt, strawberry, and peach and passion fruit, while in ice cream they have five flavors to choose from: vanilla, yogurt, chocolate, lemon, and hazelnut. He learned the process with the well-known Heladist of Zarautz Carlos Arribas. In addition, they now produce an extensible, natural cheese made with boj bell pepper. When working dairy products (yoghurt, extensible gas...) They work with the Leartiker technology center.

Direct relationship with the consumer

Although other ways of selling milk on the street have been taken, direct sales continue to be of great importance in Izueta. “It is clear to us that in order for the houses to go ahead, a direct sale must be made, because the one who buys has direct contact with the baserritars,” says Sala. The points of sale are spread over almost the entire territory of the province of Gipuzkoa. In Lazkao, Beasain and Ordizia (2 minutes from the house). Its usual points of sale are the small shops but also some supermarkets.

In the cottage itself there is also a small point of sale, and the neighbors who come to the guided tours they organize in Izus have the opportunity to buy products: “We open doors in the farmhouse, because we like to teach our day to day and our way of working. We think it’s a good way to bring people together from the city and from the villages,” he concluded.