What Queserias Entrepinares does

Queserías Entrepinares S.A.U. is a family-owned Spanish cheese and dairy-derivative manufacturer headquartered in Valladolid and founded in 1984 by Antonio Martín Castro. The company operates three cheese production centers in Valladolid (Argales), Vilalba/Lugo (Galicia), and Fuenlabrada (Madrid), supplemented by a dedicated packaging and logistics center in Valladolid and two dairy-derivative processing plants in Lugo and Zamora. With annual production exceeding 100 million kilos, Entrepinares is the largest cheese producer in Spain by volume and distributes its products across 53 countries. Its portfolio spans cow, goat, sheep, and mixed-milk cheeses across cured, semicured, aged, and spreadable formats — anchored by the Entrepinares flagship brand and the Hacendado private-label range for Mercadona.

The business model operates across three go-to-market channels: (1) branded consumer retail ('Entrepinares en casa') distributed through large retailers including Mercadona and exported to 52 other countries; (2) a Foodservice & Industrial (horeca) channel selling cheese and dairy derivatives to hospitality, catering, and food-manufacturer clients with bespoke product development; and (3) private-label/OEM manufacturing for large retailers, most notably Mercadona under the Total Quality Model. Revenue is generated primarily through unit sales of cheese and dairy products, supplemented by public co-financing (FEADER/EU rural development and IDAE energy grants) that subsidizes capex. The company monetizes through retail pricing set by partner retailers and B2B quote-based pricing on the foodservice channel; no public pricing is disclosed.

The technology and operating platform is built on vertical integration from raw dairy processing through finished packaging, supported by an in-house product development team, pilot facilities, applications laboratory, and reference technology centers. Differentiated capabilities include microbiological-origin chymosin rennet, Food Defence frameworks, and participation in the Smart4Cheese R&D consortium for quality control and resource optimization. The company maintains ISO 14001, ISO 45001, ISO 50001, and IFS Food certifications, holds the registered ENTREPINARES trademark, and has won multiple Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Super Gold medals at World Cheese Awards, International Cheese & Dairy Awards, and Gourmets championships between 2018 and 2025.

Name

Queserias Entrepinares

Legal name

Queserías Entrepinares S.A. Unipersonal

Website

https://entrepinares.es

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

501–1,000 employees

Short description

Queserías Entrepinares is Spain's largest cheese manufacturer, producing over 100 million kilos annually of cow, goat, sheep, and mixed-milk cheeses across three plants, serving retail, foodservice, and private-label (notably Mercadona's Hacendado) customers in 53 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cheese and Dairy Manufacturing

NAICS

Cheese Manufacturing (311513), Dairy Product (except Frozen) Manufacturing (31151), Food Manufacturing (311)

SIC

Dairy Products (2020)

akta.pro primary industry

Dairy Spreads, Dips & Cream Cheese Manufacturing (AFAKAKAL)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cheese Powder, Sauce & Flavor Systems Manufacturing (AFAHABAE)

Keywords

• Cheese manufacturing
• Dairy products
• Foodservice cheese supply
• Private label dairy
• Aged cheese production

Headquarters

HQ city

Valladolid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Branded retail cheese and dairy sales: 'Entrepinares en casa' line of consumer cheeses (cow, goat, sheep, mixed milk; cured, semicured, aged, cream cheese) sold through retail partners in Spain and 52 other countries. Volume exceeds 100 million kilos annually.
2. Foodservice and Industrial (horeca) sales: B2B sales of cheese and dairy derivatives to hospitality, catering, and food industry clients; includes tailored product development for use as direct-consumption product or ingredient in customer formulations.
3. Private-label/OEM manufacturing for large retailers: Manufacturing supply relationship to Mercadona aligned to Total Quality Model; production of retailer-brand cheeses (e.g., 'Hacendado' cream cheese line referenced in recipes) and own-brand SKUs distributed through retail.
4. Energy efficiency and packaging ecodesign cost recovery: Participation in EU/FEADER rural development programs and national energy efficiency grants (IDAE) for plant investments (CIP equipment, condensate recovery, EV charging) supporting capex funding tied to production operations.

Go-to-market motion4 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Queserias Entrepinares manufactures and sells cheese and dairy derivative products across cow, goat, sheep, and mixed-milk varieties. The company operates a vertically integrated platform with three production centers, a packaging/logistics hub, and two dairy-derivative plants, supplying own-brand retail lines, private-label/OEM production for retailers such as Mercadona, and a dedicated Foodservice/Industrial (horeca) channel with bespoke product development.

Product overview

Queserias Entrepinares operates a single integrated product platform centered on cheese and dairy products, rather than a multi-product SaaS architecture. The portfolio is organized across two main commercial lines: (1) the Entrepinares-branded cheese range, which includes the flagship Queso de Mezcla Tostado (including Tostado Añejo Selección and Tostado Torrefacto IGP Castellano), Queso de Oveja IGP Castellano, Queso de Cabra, Queso Ibérico Curado, and the premium Entrepinares Selección; and (2) the Hacendado Cream Cheese (Queso Cremoso) spreadable range with variants in natural, light, fine herbs, tomato, blue cheese and salmon. The same product family is delivered through two channels — the "Entrepinares at home" (retail) line and the "Foodservice & industrial" (HoReCa) line, with sliced cheese formats such as Burger Cheddar Slices and Burger Emmental Slices serving the industrial channel. Production spans three plants (Galicia, Castile and León, Madrid), a packaging and logistics center in Valladolid, and two dairy-derivative plants in Lugo and Zamora, making the company the largest cheese producer in Spain with annual production exceeding 100 million kilos across 53 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Entrepinares: Main cheese brand of Queserías Entrepinares, covering cheese and dairy derivative product lines.
• Hacendado (private label for Mercadona)

Products and services

• Entrepinares Tostado Cheese Range (Queso de Mezcla Tostado) Signature aged mixed-milk toasted cheese range (Tostado Añejo Selección, Torrefacto IGP Castellano, Tostado Crema spreadable variant) sold through retail and foodservice channels; multiple international awards.
• Queso de Oveja IGP Castellano Sheep's milk cheese with the IGP Castellano Protected Geographical Indication, recognized with Gold (ICDA 2024) and finalist status (Gourmets 2025).
• Queso de Cabra (Goat's Milk Cheese) Goat's milk cheese range including Semicurado variants; awarded Silver and Bronze at World Cheese Awards and International Cheese & Dairy Awards 2022-2024.
• Queso Ibérico Curado Iberian cured cheese awarded Gold at the World Cheese Awards 2022-2023.
• Hacendado Cream Cheese (Queso Cremoso) Spreadable cream cheese sold under the Mercadona Hacendado private-label brand in natural, light, fine herbs, tomato, blue, and salmon variants.
• Burger Cheese Slices (Lonchas Burger) Sliced cheese range for foodservice and industrial buyers including Burger Cheddar Slices and Burger Emmental Slices.
• Entrepinares Cheese Slices in Olive Oil (Lonchas de Queso en AOVE) Pre-sliced cheese packaged in extra virgin olive oil, including sheep, goat, and mixed-milk variants, targeted at foodservice and retail convenience use.
• Entrepinares Selección (Queso de Mezcla Madurado) Premium high-maturation mixed-milk cheese with differentiated toffee aroma profile; finalist at the GourmetQuesos Championship 2022.

Quantifiable outcome

• Annual cheese production exceeding 100 million kilos
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and moderate.

• ProlacteacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProlactea's logo appears in the corporate website footer alongside Queserías Entrepinares, indicating it is a sister or affiliated company within Grupo Entrepinares focused on dairy / lacteal activities. The two share corporate identity and a parent group relationship.
• LordisacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLordisa's logo appears in the corporate website footer alongside Queserías Entrepinares, indicating it is a sister/affiliated company within the same corporate group.
• MercadonaflagshipOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerMercadona is a flagship retail customer and private-label partner; Entrepinares is aligned to Mercadona's Total Quality Model covering customer, employee, supplier, society and capital dimensions of the Sustainable Food Chain. Entrepinares-branded and retailer-label cheeses (including the 'Hacendado' cream cheese range) are sold in Mercadona stores in Spain.
• ITBID (Supplier Portal)coreTechnology or IntegrationITBID provides the Supplier Portal platform (entrepinares.itbid.org) that Grupo Entrepinares uses for supplier registration, sustainability/governance questionnaires, ethical code acceptance, and category-based homologation workflows.
• ePreseleccoreTechnology or IntegrationePreselec provides the recruitment/job portal (entrepinares.epreselec.com) that Entrepinares uses to receive CVs and publish active job offers.
• Smart4Cheese consortium partners (technology centers)moderateStrategic or Co-development PartnerEntrepinares participates in the Smart4Cheese R&D project, a consortium initiative to generate new quality control tools and decision-optimization methods to reduce resource consumption in cheese manufacturing.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• García Baquero: Major Spanish cheese producer (La Mancha region) with a comparable multi-milk, multi-format cheese portfolio and strong presence in domestic retail including Mercadona. The most direct Spanish competitor to Entrepinares at the national retail and private-label level.
• Groupe Bel: French family-controlled cheese group behind Laughing Cow, Babybel, Kiri, and Boursin. Closely comparable business model: branded cheese portfolio with strong private-label exposure, multi-region production, and an international distribution footprint that overlaps with Entrepinares' 53-country reach.
• Reny Picot: Spanish dairy group with strong cheese and dairy-derivatives manufacturing, active in retail brands and B2B ingredients. Direct Spanish competitor with overlapping private-label and foodservice exposure.

Broad incumbents

• Schreiber Foods: US-headquartered, employee-owned dairy giant with large private-label cheese operations across the Americas, Europe, and Asia. Highly relevant for Entrepinares' private-label/OEM and foodservice strategy with major retailers.
• Savencia Fromage & Dairy: French family-controlled dairy group specializing in cheese (Saint Albray, Tartare, Elle & Vire) with significant B2B/foodservice exposure. Comparable in mid-market cheese manufacturing scale and channel mix (retail brand + private label/ingredients).
• Lactalis: World's largest dairy group and the dominant European cheese producer (Galbani, Président, Parmalat, etc.). Directly comparable to Entrepinares as a multi-milk, multi-country cheese manufacturer, but operates at vastly greater global scale and across broader dairy categories (yogurt, butter, ingredients).
• FrieslandCampina: Large Dutch dairy cooperative with a meaningful cheese and dairy-ingredients business. Comparable in scale of milk sourcing, multi-country production, and balance of branded and B2B/ingredients revenue.
• Arla Foods: European dairy cooperative with a substantial cheese portfolio (Castello, Lurpak, Apetina) and an export-led, multi-region manufacturing footprint. Comparable in scale, multi-milk sourcing, and reliance on retailer-aligned certifications (BRC, IFS).

Emerging players

• Central Lechera Asturiana: Spanish dairy cooperative with growing cheese and dairy-derivatives portfolio. Less cheese-specialized than Entrepinares but competes in the same Spanish retail and HoReCa channels and increasingly in private label.

Regional players

• Fromageries Bel (Spanish operations): Bel's Spanish-market operations (and other Iberia-region incumbents such as Quesería La Vasco-Navarra / Larra) compete head-to-head with Entrepinares in Spanish retail cheese aisles, particularly in portioned and processed-cheese formats where Bel is strong.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/QEntrepinares

Compliance6 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Queserias Entrepinares