QUALITY CONTROL AND QUALITY STANDARDS AT AKGOL 

At AKGOL Dairies and Packaging Industries Ltd with its modern factories is very strict about hygiene and every stage of production is controlled and supervised. Each batch of halloumi is tagged as it makes its progress through the various processes and the final packaging is stamped with date and batch details with the latest machinery without any human involvement.

Our food engineers and chemists work with great care to produce better, higher quality products under top hygienic conditions, from the minute the milk is received in our factory to when the final product is shipped to our customers. Our products, which are constantly controlled by our chemist in our own laboratory, are also sent for bacteriology checks at the laboratories of the Cyprus Veterinary Services. Our company has been awarded ISO 9001:22000 and HACCP quality and hygiene certificates.  

Lab tests are performed at each stage, too, since quality control is a major concern. These tests are carried out both by the AKGOL Dairies and by the Cyprus government. The Cyprus Organization for Standards and Control of Quality issues certificates to show that manufacturers comply with all the latest regulations governing food standards.

AKGOL Dairies produces large quantities of halloumi for the export markets. The production process because of being totally automated is streamlined to a vast extent. Vast vats of curds-and-whey are poured into the molds that will give the final product its square shape. After pressing and cooking, the salting and folding are all under automated control.

AKGOL Dairies is able to adjust the halloumi's characteristics slightly to suit different market's tastes. For example, the Gulf and Arab consumers prefer less mint, whilst others prefer more mint, but a healthy reduction in the salt content. Usually commercial halloumi is made from a mixture of sheep/goat/cow milk, but this can be varied to suit national or religious regulations.