Que qualidades para quais mercados? O caso do queijo colonial da microrregião de Capanema, Paraná.

This study aims to characterize and understand the colonial cheese market in the Capanema microregion, southwest of Paraná, identifying the attributes valued by consumers, producers and technicians / managers in the qualification of these cheeses. To answer this objective, a qualitative research was carried out, with semi-structured interviews applied to 12 producers, 12 consumers and 8 technicians / managers of food inspection agencies. The results revealed a significant number of informal colonial cheese agroindustries in the region. From the evaluated cases, it was verified that informal agroindustries sell their products from short supply chains of the face-to-face type, while formal agroindustries expand their scope to short chains of spatial proximity and for long chains of supply, losing in part the craftsmanship of their products. On the one hand, the quality of the cheeses in the formal markets is essentially evaluated by their sanitary aspect, the quality most valued in the informal markets of colonial cheese revolve around other attributes like taste, culture, tradition and nature. These qualities, added to the trust given by tradition and knowledge between producers and consumers, seem to promote these markets that continue to survive alongside hegemonic markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]