History

Trikāta is often referred to as the place of nature’s goods and historic mysteries since it is believed that here once was the Tālava State centre – Beverīna Castle ruled by Tālivaldis. The name of Trikāta is first mentioned in the Chronicle of Henry of Livonia in 1208.

Trikāta is rich with historic and cultural monuments. One of the oldest dairies in Latvia is also located here. It started its operation in 1896 at the White House of Trikāta Manor House. Butter and cheese was produced there for both the landlord and for sale. The produce of the dairy was brought to the Strenču Station, located at a 10 kilometres distance, and from there a train took it to Petersburg. In those times, there was neither electricity, nor machines, everything was done by hand. Cheese, too, was produced differently then – baked in large ovens and in pots.

The Manor House was interested in more income apart from the profit from the dairy, and, in around 1910, it built a large distillery where potatoes grown in the manor estate and bought from the farmers were processed. The distillery burnt down in the fall of 1944. It was never renovated. However, the cheesery was reconstructed which until then had operated in a very limited space.

In 1921, Trikāta founded a Dairy Producer Cooperative which took over from the Manor House the dairy, distillery and brick-kiln that had been opened in 19th century.

During the Second World War, work was suspended at the dairy. Right after the war, it was resumed and the most labour-consuming processes were mechanised – in 1957, cheese cellars were established, in 1964, a boiler room, compressor room and lactose workshop were commissioned. During the years of Soviet rule in Latvia, modernisation of the dairy was greatly supported by other republics and states of the socialist commonwealth.

After the war, Trikāta dairy’s production was very diverse. At first, mainly butter and various cottage-cheese products, as well as cream, pasteurised whole milk, kefir, rjazhenka were produced, while cheese production was very limited. The dairy producers paid a lot of attention to the quality of butter in order to maintain its sales on the market. The butter produced at the Trikāta dairy was exported not only to European countries, but also even to Cuba.

In 1972, when the new Valmiera dairy processing plant began operation, it took butter production over from Trikāta. At Trikāta, the butter department was reorganised into a creamery. However, only part of the milk was accepted for separation, the rest was used for cheese production. The first type of cheese produced at Trikāta dairy was Bakšteins, then Latvijas siers, and later also Jaroslavļa and Kostroma cheeses.

In 1962, the production of a new variety of cheese was started, namely Valmieras siers. Its production technology was developed by the Trikāta dairy. In 1964, Trikāta's cheese expert Vladislavs Čulčs had gone on an experience exchange visit to Ukraine, and there he took a liking of Krievzemes siers. He gave the technology of Valmieras siers to the Ukrainian cheese experts and obtained the technology of Krievzemes siers in return. Later, Krievzemes siers produced by Trikāta was one of the first in the region and also in the Republic that was awarded the State Quality Mark. It has received high awards in various shows, competitions and exhibitions and is still the pride of JSC "Trikātas siers".

The main individuals who have helped to develop JSC "Trikātas siers" product popularity are butter expert Jānis Vīgants and cheese expert Vladislavs Čulčs. The Ministry of Agriculture has awarded J. Vīgants the First Level Acknowledgment Certificate and the large silver medal, while the cheese expert V. Čulčs has received the Second Level Honorary Title of the Order of Three Stars.