Living amongst an incessant handful of bad news, today we want to praise and applaud the good ones. Most specifically, the young people that are fighting during hard times and that, with a dream in their minds, achieve their goals and inspire the community with their successes. That is the case for Formaje, a new business that opened its doors during the pandemic in the traditional neighborhood of Chamberí, one of Madrid’s prettiest and oldest hoods. A place where elegance and authenticity coexist in each building and each neighbor.

"Formaje is a project 100% focused on the development of platforms that allow the end customer to live a very powerful experience around artisan cheese, facilitating everything from purchase to access to content generated around the product,” explains one of the co-founders, Clara Díez.

Cheese runs through Clara’s veins, and within a short time, she’s already become the face of a new generation of cheese artisans. She wants to prove that excellency is not perfection, but is where the value of the product resides. "The word crafts is used too much and badly," she explains. "Not all artisan products have to be interesting. I seek excellence." 

At the age of 22, she discovered the world of this delicacy by chance. Now she leads, together with her husband, Adrián Pellejo, one of the most original projects on the Madrid gastronomic scene. Her new space, Formaje (the mold used to shape cheese), is the result of a long exploration and investigation in this field. In addition to being an artisan cheese shop, the place is conceived to be a space where culinary activities, tastings, gastronomic talks and meetings of local producers coexist.

"We have about 40 cheese references, but we want there to be a rotation. There is a seasonal product and we are introducing novelties. The national product prevails, but we want to give importance to international excellence as well," says Clara, this brave 28-year-old cheese activist, who despite the pandemic, did not hesitate to open their project three months ago. The goal they have set in this stage is "to create and build a community." And a first step towards this is reflected through the collaborations in the 'Journal' that they have posted on their website. "We’ve asked people from different disciplines to reflect on this product."

If we have learnt one thing during this difficult time is that, more than ever, we have to invest in projects that are authentic. We need to support our community through projects that inspire, and we need to choose quality over quantity. Projects that ignite a light of hope despite these uncertain days. Projects that, thanks to entrepreneurs’ hard work and confidence, can still connect us with each other and see small businesses succeed in a city like Madrid; a place eager to welcome new opportunities. 

Please follow Formaje here:
instagram.com/formaje_

Words by Madrid captain Marta
All imagery to the courtesy of Formaje