Flyer

Answers for infrastructure.
www.siemens.com/sinteso
The project
The sandstone caves of Kaltbach are locat-
ed in the Canton of Lucerne and have been
used to age cheese since 1953. Today, 12
employees of Emmi – the world’s leading
producer of Swiss cheese – take care of the
delicacies and also of the approximately
8,000 visitors that come here every year.
About 156,000 cheese wheels mature in
the cave complex that extends a total of
2,300 meters and has six parallel corridors.
The sandstone naturally regulates the
caves’ humidity and supports the unique
flavor of the cheese that matures here. The
smallest amount of smoke caused, for ex-
ample, by a cable fire is all it would take to
render the cheese inedible and therefore
unsalable. That is why a fire detection sys-
tem was needed to provide protection for
the employees, visitors and products alike.
The challenge
In addition to the complex maturing
process, the mineral-rich cave climate
that is so crucial for ageing cheese also
poses special challenges for fire protec-
tion. That is why detectors were needed
that will function correctly and won’t cor-
rode in the salty and ammoniacal air that
has a humidity of more than 96%. They
should also detect a fire’s development
as early as possible – without accidentally
triggering a false alarm due to environ-
mental factors like dust or the mold
spores used for cheese ripening.
Cheese worth about 50 million
Swiss francs matures in the Swiss
Kaltbach caves. A fire detection
system was needed to protect
employees and visitors as well as up
to 156,000 cheese wheels.
Protecting specialty cheese from
fire and smoke – with Sinteso
In the cheese caves of Kaltbach, employees, visitors and fine Swiss
cheese are reliably protected by the latest fire detection system.