The international trend towards protecting designations of origin (AOC cheese) also provides Swiss cheeses with a unique opportunity to position themselves as traditional natural cheeses on the world market. This is conditional upon cheeses of Swiss origin meeting all the international requirements relating to quality, safety and traceability and being perceived as premium products.

All the cultures produced by ALP stem predominantly from the original biodiversity of fermentation organisms in Switzerland. The naturalness of these cultures (for the most part in bud quality) offers promising potential for the differentiation of Swiss cheese from the foreign competition.

Within the scope of this project to investigate the economic viability of production systems and processing methods. The aim is to increase sensitisation for economic assessment and to provide instruments and knowledge for appropriate observations in the field.

There is an upward trend in the frequency of cheese fabrication problems with a significant increase in the extent of damage. Small-scale milk processors and knowledge transmitters (advisory services, educators) rely on ALP research and knowledge transfer to tackle these pressing problems.

ALP is required to support trade and industry in the development and evaluation of new methods, in the development of innovative, competitive products and in the early identification of both the functional properties of milk compounds and important developments in the nutritional field.