In the village of Mudrike, located beneath Babanovac on Vlašić, the Mehić family, led by Mersudin, has maintained the tradition of producing high-quality cow and sheep cheese for over 150 years. Their eco-tourism venture, known as Mehić Eko, offers visitors various types of cheese, making them a favorite among tourists visiting the area.
“Our family business, Mehić Eko, has been registered for ten years, but I have been making cheese my entire life. It is my main source of income from which I support my family and educate my three children. We produce our cheese in a traditional way and without the use of modern technologies,” Mersudin told Visit BiH Magazine.
Market Demands
According to him, they make cheese from sheep’s milk, which is branded and significantly higher in quality. On the other hand, they also produce cheese from cow’s milk, as well as a combination of the two.
“Due to constant market changes and customer demands, we have introduced new products. We adopted the recipe for Fojnica cheese made from cow’s milk, which is round and smoked. I must emphasize that we do not remove the cream or the milk fat; instead, we use so-called whole milk in production, resulting in a much higher quality cheese. Of course, I do not want to undermine anyone else’s product,” he notes.
Their assortment also includes cheeses with various spices because, as he says, the market dictates the pace and is very demanding in that regard.
“The facility we are in was built in 2013, and our workshop is subject to veterinary-sanitary inspections that enforce strict hygiene and milk quality regulations. Additionally, we can only sell our products within a three-kilometer radius. However, our quality has long been recognized by customers who continually return to us, so we have no need to venture beyond this location,” Mersudin explains.
He highlights the good cooperation with the Tourist Association of the Travnik Municipality and its director, Samer Dolovac, who work daily on promoting not just their business but all producers in Vlašić.
“We have a beautiful partnership with the Tourist Association of the Travnik Municipality and the Ministry of Education of Sarajevo Canton, and students from Sarajevo Canton come to us as a part of study trips, ‘The Path from War to Peace,’ to Fojnica, Vitez, Jajce, Bihać, Cazin, Velika Kladuša, Bužim, Prijedor, Vlašić, and Travnik. Upon returning from Vlašić, I give them a sort of lecture on cheese production and life on Vlašić. This occurs every Friday in spring and autumn, and it gives me special satisfaction,” Mersudin emphasizes.
Local Food
He mentions that it greatly helps that Vlašić has become an important tourist destination, especially in winter when the ski resorts are full of both local and foreign guests.
“In the future, we plan to more seriously enter the business and build apartments and a type of restaurant where we will serve food produced by us in a traditional manner. In recent years, we have seen an explosion of summer tourism in Vlašić, especially b Arab tourists. They are often not interested in hotels but in rural ways of life. They want to see how cows are milked, how to clean stables, and how to grow vegetables,” he emphasizes.
Mersudin currently has eight cows, about 200 sheep, and around 30 chickens, and there is nothing in the world that gives him greater satisfaction than going to the barn to feed the animals and milk the cows and sheep.
Mersudin has three children but believes they will not pursue cheese production, as they are exceptional students.
“I am really proud of them. They are excellent students, they participate in various competitions and have traveled more of the world than many of their peers. I don’t want to direct them; they should do what they think is best for them,” concludes Mersudin at the end of the conversation.
