Vale de Alfaia

The Company

Vale de Alfaia is a family-run agricultural company dedicated to the production of cheese, olive oil and local varieties of beans. The organic farm is located in Sobral do Campo (Castelo Branco), with a privileged view of the amazing Gardunha mountain. The agriculture practices used boost sustainability, preserving the soil, the environment and biodiversity and also guarantee animal welfare.

Products

Vale de Alfaia has a traditional cheese workshop where fresh and cured sheep’s cheese is produced; the farm produces olive oil from centenary olive groves and traditional beans, as the local cowpeas varieties ‘cara verde’, ‘cara preta’ and ‘bago de arroz’. The typical varieties of the region are fully adapted to orogenic and climatic conditions and grow without the need for extra watering. These cowpeas are important not only for their high nutritional value in food but also because as dry beans, they are easily stored for long time and distributed without the need for refrigeration. Cowpeas work as green manure for soils due to their ability to fix nitrogen in the soil, avoiding the use of nitrogen fertilizers.