A collectively organized
sector

Since 1930, the Roquefort sector has been organized and united within the
General Confederation of Roquefort in order to guarantee the quality of its cheese production, through the meticulous control of the specifications of the DPO and the implementation of rules, services and technical support for the trades in the department.

The General Confederation of Roquefort federates, around the king of cheeses, sheep breeders and manufacturers of Roquefort. Those who produce the raw material, raw milk, and those who collect it, transform it into curd loaves which they ripe until they obtain Roquefort cheeses, which are then marketed. The production of Roquefort is a patient process in which each step is decisive, from the sheep’s grassing by the shepherd to the visual inspection of the Roquefort cheese by the ripener. This shared attention to the quality of Roquefort shapes the spirit of cohesion and solidarity that characterizes the sector.

Not only does the General Confederation of Roquefort pool tools and resources, but it is also active in developing and promoting its know-how and its cheese. A pioneering organization in 1930 and a model of longevity, the General Confederation of Roquefort keeps alive a cheese tradition that it energizes with a constant concern for innovation.

To the values of the product transcribed in the DPO specifications, is added the value of the collective. A collective that transcends time. The General Confederation reinforces the resistance capacity of the sector over time. It gives birth to a real solidarity. It forms a space for reflection,
debate and negotiation where members of the sector share their experience and reinvent their practices together. This is the strength of the Roquefort collective.

On the Roquefort terroir,
it represents

1 465

sheep farms
i.e. as many farms collecting milk for Roquefort and a total of 3,000 breeders

dairies transform raw sheep’s milk into cheeses for Roquefort

133

milkmen roam the
Roquefort area in a
truck to collect milk

2 000

people
work in cheese production.

1 2 3 4 5 6

The collective brand “Red Sheep”

Its detailed design has given way to a silhouette. Apart from this graphic nuance, the “Red Sheep” label has been affixed to all Roquefort packaging since 1930. Identifiable among all by its oval and its vermilion red sheep, the collective brand was created by the nascent Confederation to guarantee the authenticity and the origin of the cheeses. Today, it is registered in 73 countries, for protection purposes.