At first glance, you might think that the history of our cheese dairy is fairly recent. That's not entirely untrue, but it seems essential to give a little more context by presenting the background of Yan, its director, who started out in agriculture in 2007.

The birth of a passion for agriculture

After completing an apprenticeship as an electronics technician, Yan went into the bodywork business and ran his own company for over 10 years. Driven by a passion he had nurtured since childhood, he decided to change direction and turn to agriculture. He put an end to his bodywork business and started out with 12 dairy ewes in Chamoille, with the aim of producing ewe's milk cheeses for his family and friends.

Gaining experience

The early days were difficult for Yan, as he lacked experience in farming, cheese-making or business. This presented him with many challenges and meant he had to learn new skills over time.

The meeting

After more than four years of production, Yan had managed to expand his flock to over a hundred ewes and was selling his cheeses every Saturday at the Sion market. In 2011, he met Bertrand Gabioud, a cheese merchant in Valais, and they decided to work together to sell their products.

The birth of an idea

A year later, in 2012, Bertrand shared with Yan his idea of creating a Fromathèque. Both agreed that they could make it an exceptional place by combining their skills: Bertrand would bring his vision as an architect and businessman, while Yan would contribute his experience in agriculture and the production of sheep's milk cheeses.

La Fromathèque

After more than a year's work, the Fromathèque in Martigny-Croix has seen the light of day. At this stage, Bertrand and Yan were fully committed to the project, as they no longer had enough time to pursue their activities as market traders and producers. Yan decided to entrust his flock of ewes to Émile Deslarzes, a farmer in the Val de Bagnes whom he knew well. Émile is responsible for producing all the sheep's milk and delivers it daily to the Fromathèque.

International awards

In 2016, Fromathèque entered its sheep's milk cheese in the Swiss Cheese Awards, a renowned competition in Switzerland, to assess the quality of its products. To everyone's surprise, after just three years in business, it won the prize for best semi-hard sheep's cheese. Two years later, the team attempted the unthinkable: to take part in an international competition in the United States. And guess what? In 2018, Fromathèque's cheese was crowned the best sheep's milk cheese in the world! Made by Yan and Jérôme in a small 100 m² facility, this unexpected success even attracted the attention of American importers. For the whole team, it was a great source of pride and an encouragement to continue developing our products.

Development

After more than eight years in business, Bertrand and Yan were faced with a challenge: they had to accommodate more customers and cope with the increased quantities of milk, because the Fromathèque was becoming too small, as were the production premises. The solution soon became apparent: build a new cheese dairy in the Martigny industrial estate. This would free up space at the Fromathèque while increasing production capacity.

Fromagerie de Martigny

Construction of the Fromagerie de Martigny was completed in 2022. True to the philosophy of the Fromathèque, we are committed to paying our farmers a fair wage and creating quality products, most of which are organic and carry the Marque Valais label. The aim of this cheese dairy is to produce a wide range of cheeses made from sheep's, cow's and goat's milk, offering our customers an incomparable diversity.

Where to find our products

We can be found in a number of shops in the Valais, including the Fromathèque in Martigny-Croix, as well as throughout French-speaking Switzerland. If you're in the Martigny area, you can also pop into our cheese shop. Although we don't have a shop on site, we do have a vending machine available 24/7, ideal for a late-night fondue! You can also order via our online shop, with delivery anywhere in Switzerland within 48 hours.