FRESH COW’S MILK straight from farms of members of the Northern Mindanao Federation of Dairy Cooperatives (NMFDC) was the last thing we expected during a recent visit to Cagayan de Oro City.

And we mean fresh, collected by farmers early in the morning and picked up by NMFDC trucks for pasteurization in its plant then delivered to households in the city and neighboring areas.

The processing center of the federation in one of the barangays of Cagayan de Oro surprisingly produces a diverse product line that includes bottled fresh milk, including flavored varieties; plain yoghurt both in liquid and semi-solid form; dairy bars, and kesong puti.

The federation is also the only local producer of the Dutch gouda cheese. Cresencio O. Barros Jr., federation chair, said they learned to make gouda cheese from a Dutch consultant who helped set up the processing plant.

Source: Giron, T.V. "Fresh and gouda from Cagayan de Oro." Inq7.net. First posted 08:52pm (Mla time) Sept 14, 2005. 9-15-2005. http://news.inq7.net/lifestyle/index.php?index=1&story_id=50225