Our Story
1930
Our family buys La Cosalva, an estate in Sierra Crestellina, where our great-grandparents María Bravo Calderón and Juan Ocaña Quirós begin bartering their cheeses. One of their children, Juan Ocaña Bravo, continued this activity.
1945
From the marriage of Juan Ocaña Bravo and Francisca Quirós Sánchez, Juan Ocaña Quirós (our father) was born, and it was that same year that the family settled on the current farm, La Laguna.
1981
Our parents, Juan Ocaña Quirós and Ana Mateo Quiñones, get married and begin their journey in society together with Juan's brother Pepe Ocaña, running their own goat farm.
1982
Juan Ocaña Mateo is born, leading the 4th generation of Crestellina.
1987
Ana Ocaña Mateo is born, leading the 4th generation of Crestellina.
1997
This is the year in which, through our father's initiative, the cheese factory was formally established, where our mother, Ana Mateo, would become the master cheesemaker.
2004
Juan Jose Ocaña Mateo, the current master cheesemaker and fourth generation, completed his studies in goat farming and artisanal cheese production to continue the family business.
2020
We made the difficult decision to sell off a large part of our goats to focus on cheese quality and new lines of business.
2021
We changed our name to CRESTELLINA (formerly "Quesos Sierra Crestellina"), modernized our brand image, and launched organic-certified cheeses.
Juan Ocaña
Juan Ocaña is, along with his sister Ana Ocaña, at the helm of Crestellina.
He proudly bears a name that resonates through four generations. He is the fourth in his family to embrace and carry the same name as his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather.
Juan doesn't remember when he learned to milk goats or use a slingshot; probably around the same time he learned to walk or talk. Born in 1982, Juan embodies the entrepreneurial spirit and is a driving force of change at Crestellina; he can't stop creating!
When he's behind the counter, the cheeses fly off the shelves! He could sell you a rock, and he's the most media-savvy member of the entire Crestellina team, having appeared on Canal Sur, TVE, and El País.
Juan ensures that Crestellina's direction always aims for the top. And he has personally taken charge of bringing Crestellina's cheeses to the best kitchens.
With every decision, he tries to continue the love story for the countryside that began in his family nearly a century ago. A love that he especially enjoys transmitting to the hundreds of schoolchildren who visit Crestellina each year to learn about daily life on the farm and in the cheese factory. His dream is to have planted the seed so that in the future there will be many cheesemakers and goat herders like him.
Ana Ocaña
Ana Ocaña is the younger of the two siblings who make up the fourth generation of Crestellina. The synergy between Juan and her makes them a perfect team.
If Juan embodies the spirit of sales, Ana embodies that of production. Every day, she delves into the heart of the cheese factory, and her hands bring cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurts to life.
She is the one who ensures that Crestellina's products are never missing from the shelves and refrigerators of the stores and restaurants that Crestellina supplies. From production to packaging to careful labeling, Ana dresses each product with the dignity it deserves before leaving the factory.
Ana meticulously cares for every detail, something that is also evident in the catering events held both inside and outside the farm. Each tray, each cheese board she prepares, is almost a work of art that catches the eye before delighting the stomach.
Her efficiency and attention to detail confirm that excellence is a family affair.
Ana Mateo
Ana Mateo, mother of Juan and Ana, is Crestellina's Master Cheesemaker in capital letters.
Ana and Juan have inherited their mother's good craftsmanship. Since they were born, she has been responsible for making the cheeses and teaching her children every detail of the process to ensure that the family recipes are still alive today.
Her cheesemaking skills are astounding; she doesn't need electronic gadgets to control the temperature or pH during production. With just her sense of smell, she knows when to take the next step in each stage of preparation. It seems she has an innate gift, but this precision has been honed cheese by cheese over 40 years.
We owe Crestellina's flavor to her. And not only in the form of cheeses, but in the form of traditional local culinary recipes that she makes with the same mastery as her cheeses: Casareño goat, hot gazpacho, xxxx? She is in charge of delighting the palates of everyone who works at Crestellina.
A tireless, consistent, and committed worker. She is nearing her well-deserved retirement, but knowing her, we doubt she won't keep poking her infallible nose around the vats where we make our recipes every day.
Juan Corbacho
Better known as, Juan the Goatherd.
There's no one in Crestellina who can move with his agility and speed along the ridges of our mountain range. It's as if his legs were designed to walk through the mountains effortlessly. He has surprised many in trail running races, where, without needing to train, he has reached the finish line among the first and without barely breaking a sweat.
His skill is also evident in his precision when handling a sling, having even won some shooting competitions.
Despite being known as "the goatherd," Juan is a jack-of-all-trades and is always there wherever he's needed: making cheese, selling in the shop, going to fetch the mountain goats, or tending to the family garden.
Without sharing the same blood, Juan is like a brother to Juan and Ana and like a son to Ana's mother, whom he affectionately calls "the Boss."
Originally from the Cadiz town of Algodonales, he arrived in Crestellina as a teenager and never left; Crestellina and the Ocaña Mateo family are his home.
Cristina Rodriguez
Cristina Rodríguez is one of the best hires Crestellina has made in recent years.
Although her heart has been linked to Crestellina for much longer: one day her path crossed with Juan Ocaña's, and both agreed that, from then on, they would walk together.
Cristina is a native of Benalauría, probably the most beautiful of all the villages in the Genal Valley. She studied occupational therapy, which makes her a patient, observant person who encourages everyone around her to bring out their best version. Her sensitivity is palpable in Crestellina's communications, as she is responsible for customer service via phone, WhatsApp, or Instagram.
Additionally, among other things, she manages one of the areas that brings the most joy to Crestellina: the cheese experiences. She coordinates all the events Crestellina participates in (gastronomic fairs, presentations) and visits to the farm for schools, couples, groups of friends, or families who take home flavor and happiness, in addition to a cheese made by them!
Eager to learn, Cristina always goes a step further, and together with Juan, she knows every corner, process, and product of Crestellina inside out.
Moles and Juan José
Lunares and Juan José are our mastiffs and an essential part of our team.
In reality, they are half dogs, half goats, as they spend all day with them.
They are our eyes in the mountains when we are not there and they keep any danger that may threaten their goat sisters away.
They have a special instinct to care for them, always vigilant, always at the rear, making sure they all stay together. While the goats graze, they lie down to rest, but always with half an eye open to keep everything in order.
Once a genius, always a genius
Juan Ocaña Senior
Our father Juan Ocaña Quirós left us in February 2020, but to this day, his legacy is evident in every corner of our farm.
A true character, his authenticity, hospitality, and jokes will be hard to forget for the friends who still visit and miss his presence by the fire of our old kitchen.
Without his vision and hard work, we wouldn't be where we are today, nor would we uphold the values of yesteryear. On our farm, we continue to raise our goats just as our father learned from his father and grandfather. Crestellina is one of the few farms that, to this day, does not separate the kids from their mothers, allowing them to feed on breast milk, learn, and grow with them until weaning. Weaning is done with "botijos" (traditional Spanish pitchers) as has been done for centuries. All of this is our father's legacy.
2020 was a tough year for everyone due to the pandemic, but for us, it hit twice as hard and shook the foundations of our business to the point of wanting to give it all up... But it is in times of crisis that one resurfaces with greater strength, and that is something we learned from our father.
Soon, we will release a very special cheese that will bear his name and will be the pure essence of Crestellina: Juan Ocaña raw milk aged cheese. This one's for you, Dad! Thank you for everything.
Sierra Crestellina
Our cheese factory is located in a privileged environment at the foothills of Sierra Crestellina. Since our family established roots here in 1930, we have lived in harmony with this natural enclave, which is home to our Payoya goats. Those who visit us think that the goats live on the farm, but nothing could be further from the truth; their home is the cliffs and ridges of the mountains, from which their name precisely comes.
The Crestellina ridges are steep and only suitable for our climbing goats.
The flora of Mediterranean pines, holm oaks, cork oaks, and gall oaks intertwines with thorny bushes, mastic trees, rosemary, and thyme, creating a tapestry that feeds our livestock throughout the year. The milk of our goats reflects the diversity of the landscape, which changes its flavor slightly depending on what they are eating each season: tender flowers and herbs in spring, grain matured on the plant in summer, acorns, olives, or carobs in autumn... and complementing this rich diet, organic grains and fibers in winter to ensure the constant quality of our milk when there is little food in the countryside.
Griffon vultures dominate the sky; Crestellina has the largest colony in all of Malaga. They are accompanied by peregrine falcons, booted eagles, Eurasian eagle-owls... It is no coincidence that they have settled here; it is also a habitat for wild goats, the older cousins of the Payoya goats, which have constituted an important food source for these types of scavenger birds.
Sierra Crestellina has been declared a Natural Park since 1989, is part of the Intercontinental Biosphere Reserve, and also holds the protection status of a Special Protection Area for Birds (ZEPA) since 2004.
When you eat a Crestellina cheese, you are not only taking a piece of our family heritage into your mouth, but you will inevitably be linking yourself to this majestic mountain range.
By consuming Crestellina, you will be contributing to preserving this unique ecosystem, and most importantly, you will be helping to halt the extinction of our threatened Payoya goats.
Nothing makes us happier than knowing that every cheese that leaves our home carries a message of love for nature that spreads through tables shared with friends and family.
Manifesto
At Crestellina, we don't sell cheese, we sell countryside.
In other words, cheese is our excuse for you to reconnect with nature and be happy.
You might think we're very naive, and that we're just trying to tug at your heartstrings with this text, filling it with pretty words. Let's not kid ourselves, we want you to be part of the big Crestellina family... But the reality is that whoever comes to Crestellina is happier. And we didn't just make that up; we see it every day with every person who comes here and leaves with a smile from ear to ear.
And what do we do to make you happy? Something very simple: we share.
We passionately and humbly share our family's entire legacy. We feel honored and grateful to be inheritors of so much truth, so much generosity, so much simplicity, so much love for nature, and to share it.
We make you happy because we open our corner at the foot of the mountains to plant nature within you. Because we are convinced that the only way to conquer happiness is to inhabit it, to inhabit nature. If you are lucky enough to live in it, you will know this is true. But if you don't live near it, don't worry, we'll bring it home to you in a box.
Sharing and making those who pass through here happy is precisely what gives meaning to everything. It's what makes us get up every day and put affection and enthusiasm into what we do. That is our purpose. That is our engine.
Crestellina is a song to rural life, an invitation to remember where we come from and where we should go as a community.
Crestellina is the answer to a world we know is eager to rediscover its connection with nature.
Crestellina is a call to stop, to be more conscious, to live with gratitude, to share, and to be happy.
We seek to make the world a better field, and for you to be a part of it.
Being part of Crestellina is choosing a better world. It's living "simple by nature."
More than geological
Crestellina's ecological commitment: beyond the seal
At Crestellina, we understand that sustainability is a deeper journey than simply having an organic product label. While organic certification guarantees proper food practices and an environment free of hormones and medications, we believe it's just the beginning. We strive to go further, which is why our goats live freely and happily in the mountains and are not confined to small spaces.
Every Crestellina product carries the promise of animal welfare and agricultural management that respects and celebrates the land. Our philosophy encompasses a holistic vision that respects not only the animals but also the landscape and the community around us. These are our actions beyond the label:
- Grazing and Fire Prevention: Our goats graze extensively, a practice essential not only for their diet but also for landscape preservation and fire prevention. We are part of the "Network of Pasture-Firebreak Areas of Andalusia."
- Biodiversity Allies: Our extensive livestock farming contributes to biodiversity by spreading native seeds and serving as natural food for scavenging birds.
- Clean Energy and Green Technology: We use renewable energies; we have our own solar panels and photovoltaic panels. We use advanced technologies such as GPS to optimize animal welfare and make our lives easier!
- Education for the Future and Inclusivity: Through workshops and educational programs, we spread the importance of sustainable food practices among schoolchildren, young people, and support associations for people with functional diversity.
- Circularity and Waste Management: We recycle cheesemaking by-products to feed our pigs. We reuse wastewater and opt for recyclable and compostable packaging.
- Eco-Branding: Our logo is designed with colors that pollute less, and we prioritize the use of packaging with less plastic or compostable materials.
- Local Support: We foster a local economy and support producers so that wealth remains in our community.
- Research and Development: We participate in research projects to validate the benefits of natural feeding and to highlight the nutritional superiority of products obtained through extensive farming, such as our cheeses.
