A  professional  cheese  maker  Mr.  Gnel   Khachatryan   is   one   of   the successful entrepreneurs in Vardenis City, Gegharkunik Region. The region is rich with alpine vegetation and is known for cattle breeding traditions. When the Cheese Plant of Vardenis stopped the operation in early 90’s and the region faced the shortage in dairy products, Mr. Khachatryan decided to start his own dairy production. The first contracts with 30 farmers were signed in 1996 and 200 liters of milk was processed per day. The first year he managed to produce and market 2.5 tonnes of Armenian traditional cheese varieties.

   In 1999 he started  collaboration  with  a  French  cheese  maker  Laurent Didier and developed Tom cheese production in Vardenis with French technology. This is a unique cheese produced with Pennicilium due to which the cheese receives pleasantly specific taste and aroma.

   Today, along with the Armenian salty cheeses, the dairy  produces  Tom cheese variety, which is marketed with Vardenis brand name. Together with 5 employees, the entrepreneur expanded the production volumes and currently processes 3,000 liters of milk per day and produces 40 tonnes of Lori and 8 tonnes of Vardenis cheese annually.

   Lori   and   Vardenis   cheeses   are   well   accepted   by   the    Armenian consumers and occupy a stable place in the domestic cheese market. Now, Gnel Khachatryan is working on increasing the productivity of the plant, introducing new technologies and more efficient ways of production, in order to meet the demand of the local market.

   Gnel Khachatryan is expecting  to  export  his  products  to  the  US  and France this year.

   Armenian town of Vardenis and French town of Roman are sister towns. Mr. Khachatryan attended the Armenian Days Event in Roman in 2000 and received excellent comments regarding the quality of his products.

   USDA   Marketing   Assistance   Project   (MAP)   has   had   a   significant contribution to the development of this business. USDA MAP assistance is aimed to construct well-equipped facilities to expand the volumes of Tom cheese production, design proper labeling and packaging, and establish links with cheese importers from USA, Russia and Middle East.

   USDA MAP also supported Mr. Khachatryan to present  the  products  in the First International Exhibition ArmprodExpo 2001 in Yerevan, and in 2002 Gnel Khachatryan’s cheeses have been exposed on Made in Armenia Expo in Yerevan.

   Mr. Kachatryan has taken part  in  the  Poland  Cheese  Seminar  in  2001 and Cochran Fellowship Project in the US in 2002.