The founder of the factory was Milan Volic, born in Stapar,son of Zivko and Sofija.As a young veterinarian technician he increased the cattle fond of already existing farm property.That is how he became one the major milk producers for the market. Dissatisfied with prices of milk he comes to an idea to make dairy products and to distribute them on local open markets. In the household conditions,with a few hundred liters of milk,and the help of his mother,father and wife,he starts his own manufacturing of rich milk cheese. As he developed the production up to a certain limit on an open market of Apatin,he noticed that buyers are left without their favorite produce. That is why he begins buying milk from neighbors. The summer kitchen was adapted as a room for making dairy products. With the purchase of a small separator there begins the production of another type of cheese-tiny grain cheese and also whipped cream is collected. The sales are spread to the open market of Sombor. Every day there are more and more consumers so the purchase of cheese is spread all over Stapar. Around 500 liters of milk is processed every day. Analyzing the years-long open market sales he realizes that quality and diversity of products is an important element for successful sales.In other to satisfy the tastes and needs of every customer who steps in front of his stand with great effort he begins the production of hard cheeses-trapist and kackavalj. The need for raw material is greater and greater so the purchase of milk is spread to neighboring marshlands Zarkovac and Lugovo.Around 1000 liters of milk is processed daily. With the increase of milk purchase and processing there inevitably comes the increase of expenditure and the need for greater production space. This leads to increase in the workforce and investments in new tools and machines. Two duplicators were bought, each with 600 liters volume and a van truck to transport raw milk from purchasing stations. The collaboration with bakers interested in trapist and tiny grain cheese begins. The word about the good cheese is spread far away so the conquest of Novi Sad market begins. There are more and more buyers who have their own distribution centers- market stores. The need arises to legalize this activity of ours.So in 2000. with the accordance of all authorized inspections the family milk manufacturing MIS GUMLEK begins working. Aware of the quality of our products in 2002 we carry two of our products to be judged at the Fare of Novi Sad. Both of them receive the silver medal for quality.Such recognitions are nice and flattering but they are mostly for marketing purposes. The real recognition is the ever growing number of our consumers and the increasing demand for our products. Now we are overcoming ourselves. We didn't think things will turn out this way when we filled that first bucket of cheese. And everything did not go as smooth as it seems on paper. There were a lot of sleepless nights, unsuccessful rounds, wasted cheese, lack of fuel,electricity,family tragedies..... there were hard moments,not just financially but there was also the lack of will but there was always some of us ready to keep going. This is something only family can do. The amount of raw milk is now around 2000 liters daily. This requires serious organization of production , building of a bigger plant with accompanying objects which demand sanitary and veterinary inspections. Such a big production demands certain thermal calculations and the boiler room is built with the energy that pasteurizes milk in big duplicators, and big coolers and built. The pool of cold water is also needed to accelerate technological processes and enhance the quality of final product.Product needs to be packed so the next investment is a vacuum machine for packaging. Small vehicles which served for milk transportation are replaced with bigger ones and the vehicle for distribution of final products is also necessary. There is also a need for an administrative worker to take care of paying for milk, supplying of rennets,packaging,stickers, bookkeeping so the wife leaves the job of a teacher and fully takes the responsibility of managing the milk factory. There is also a need for qualified workforce so the owner hires a master from a famous school in Pirot. Owing to him the production of sour milk drinks and creamy cheeses begins. The product which is the pride of our milk industry is the yogurt.
  From the founding of the milk industry the founder's great dream was to restore the production of traditional cheeses from this region. There was very little of famous Sombor cheese on the market,which was the main reason to try to restore and continue this tradition.For its specific features, but also because of small-big secrets in the preparation and production this type of cheese is the only one recognized from The World Milk Federation as purely our own from the region of the ex - SFRJ.  Classic production of cheese is a feature of modern technology but making the Sombor cheese is not so easy.We have studied the literature,advised with the experts but also brought old ladies from nearby marshlands. That is how we made a combination of old traditional ways of our grandmas and modern technology. We did our best to put this unique and specific product into an old school package, the wooden kit. Proudly we sent that wooden kit for judging.
   An overview of our current condition: Milk industry MIS GULMLEK purchases around 4000 liters of milk daily from 120 coopeartors from 7 purchasing stations-Stapar, Lugovo, Zarkovac, Bukovac, the Kljajicevo road, the Conoplja road, Backi Brestovac.




Today the milk industry has almost all the equipment for milk processing

•  big separator with 2000 lit capacity
•  three duplicators with 600 lit capacity (200 lit each duplicator)
•  two tables for curd filtering
•  a fore press and a press
•  a homogenizer with 500 lit capacity
•  four lactic freezers with 500-1000 lit capacity
•  vacuum packaging machine
•  milk packaging machine
•  semi-automatic packaging machine with thermal welding
•  hot-cold chamber for fermentation of sour dairy products
•  the filler and valve machine for melted cheese
•  cold water pool of 2000 lit capacity
•  the boiler room with two boilers and two alternative sources of energy
•  three cooling chambers


   
    In the production plant eight workers turn the milk into about twenty different milk products.Two distribution vehicles carry these fresh milk products every morning into thirty market stores and bakeries.Of course in the open markets of Sombor and Apatin the line of our customers forms regularly. We have realized that the time has come to open a specialized retail store for selling of our products. This store is located in the sequence of shops in the Sombor chained open market.


  On left picture: prof dr Zora Mijačević watching a production of  Sombor's cheese.




    Plans for the future Movement of the production plant and increasing to the desired capacity of 5000 lit Learning about and improving the traditional technology of the products of our region,Sombor cheese and Bunjevac stinky cheese. When it comes to branding we believe that these cheeses are among leading in Sombor and we believe also in Vojvodina.That is why we protected our brands in the Office of protection of Intelectual Rights and the patent office. In the project of protection with geographic origin we hired experts from the University of Belgrade-agricultural,veterinarian and technological. We want for our products to be marked with the brand of healthy food. We want to continue the family tradition and all this needed a bit of luck and lots of love,patience and family understanding.