On 22 January, the LIFE Maronesa project received a special restoration delegation from Lisbon, made up of Chef Kiko, accompanied by his butcher Bruno Fortuna, and also the distributor of Maronesa meat in the Lisbon area, Nuno Costa. The Maronês Breeders’ Association was the partner responsible for organising this visit, where the meeting point was the headquarters of the Vila Real Agricultural Cooperative, which was attended by President Joaquim Costa and the cooperative’s commercial operations manager, Marília Olhero. The Maronese Breeders’ Association was represented by its Technical Secretary, Engineer Paula Teixeira, who is responsible for the genealogical book of the Maronese breed.
The visit began with a tour of the cooperative’s facilities and how it operates. The entire production line was explained, from administration to sales to the public, as were the breeders’ methods of production, the transportation of the animals to the slaughterhouse and the commercialisation process.
The LIFE Maronesa project was then presented, as well as the CLIMA+ label, to which Chef Kiko showed great interest due to the quality of this small group of breeders, where the Chef’s idea is to work with one or two breeders in order to get to know their farm and learn about their extensive production methods and the role of their animals in the management of the Serra do Alvão. In this way, he offers his clients the experience of telling the story of these breeders, while preparing his recipes and serving them in his restaurant.
The delegation was joined by one of ACM’s officials, José João Ribeiro, and then travelled to Telões to visit the Casal da Bouça farm, where they were welcomed by Tommy Ferreira, its manager, and also by the coordinator of the LIFE Maronesa project, Duarte Marques from AguiarFloresta. Although the rain made the visit difficult, the delegation from Lisbon had the opportunity to observe part of the farm’s herd in the lower area of the farm where the mobile hay feeders and some calf feeders were located.
After the visit to Casal da Bouça, lunch continued at the Hotel Costa do Sol restaurant, where they tasted Maronesa meat and some of the region’s products. After lunch, the delegation returned to the road through the Serra do Alvão. The visit ended in the afternoon with a visit to the farm of breeder Rafael Costa, where it was possible to see a batch of new-born calves and also be lucky enough to witness a cow giving birth (she was concentrating on cleaning her calf in the final moments).
