Mexican Milk Facts

In Mexico, cattle, goats and sheep were unheard of before the Spanish arrival to the area in the 1500's. The ancient cultures of the area had not heard of dairy products before that time, but that quickly changed. The Spanish brought cattle to their conquered land, and also the farming and dairy production knowledge that later came to benefit the area. The locals were shown how to ranch and how to milk the livestock, and were also trained in the ways of cheese production. Cattle, horse and alpaca ranches are not unusual in the Mexican landscape, and now, over 500 years later, they continue to be an important industry to the country.

Civil conflict between warring Indian tribes, and battles for the ownership of the land between European and indigenous groups, were common throughout the history of Mexico. A large influence on Mexican culture was due to the Spanish and Americans of the region, and they were the main players - including farming. Ranchers could earn themselves a decent living, without having to worry about raids from tribal groups, or conflicts with the American army, once political strife settled down in the 20th century.

Horsemanship was already an ancient tradition amongst the Mexican people, but it carried little weight in the area of food production. Providing a renewable food source, cattle were perhaps the most lucrative of the livestock. Villages and families would by their milk from local farmers in the 1950's, as each farm produced it's own milk as one of its products. It was a modest living for the farmers, but a living nonetheless. Pasteurization was not common and the quality varied.

An industry association for dairy farmers was conceived in the 1960's, as a partnership was thought to be beneficial by the more successful business people. The plan was reconsidered and changed somewhat in 1970. The National Association for the Producers of Pure Milk, or Alpura, was formed with the main goal of creating a business plan to sell fresh milk all over Mexico. The group of dairy farmers wanted to pool ideas and resources on improving the quality of milk, a wider distribution of milk and greater community resources in the farming industry.

At first Alpura's battle was difficult. They had a lot of critics, but the hardest part was competing with the powdered milk products that were so much cheaper than fresh milk. Dairy products were introduced at very inexpensive prices, in order to gain a foothold in the market, and to become the main suppliers of milk for all of Mexico. By 1971 the products were on their way across Mexico and Alpura's vision was coming to fruition. Today, Alpura is a respected 100% Mexican cooperative company offering a very diverse set of milk products.


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