The ‘Mountain Product’ designation has been awarded to DalterFood’s high-quality cheese, which has a guaranteed maturation period of 24 months and is exclusively processed in facilities in the Reggio Emilia Apennines. 

 

Based in Sant’Ilario d’Enza (Reggio Emilia), DalterFood Group  – a leading producer of cheese and dairy products, exporting to 45 countries worldwide – has reached another important milestone. In September, ‘Solo di Pezzata Rossa Italiana’ Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (exclusively from Pezzata Rossa Italiana cattle) obtained the ‘Mountain Product’ guarantee seal and designation. The product has also received animal welfare and organic certifications.

Quality cheese from a sustainable breed

 

Pezzata Rossa Italiana is a breed that originated in Friuli and then spread throughout Italy. The breed’s success has been due to its ability to adapt to even the most difficult environments thanks to its high fertility, resistance to disease, and suitability for both milk and meat production, which makes it particularly ‘sustainable’ for farmers. Since it is highly resilient and particularly suitable for organic farming, today the Italian Pezzata Rossa breed is mainly concentrated in mountain areas – and, in general, in small-to-medium-sized family-run barns. 

‘Solo di Pezzata Rossa Italiana’ Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheese follows all the standards required by this denomination: it is exclusively made with milk from a single farm, the ‘Le Boccede’ farm in the Reggio Emilia hills. The raw material is exclusively processed by the ‘Colline del Cigarello e Canossa’ dairy, owned by the DalterFood Group, which is classified as a mountain dairy by the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium due to its altitude. ‘Sola Pezzata Rossa Italiana’ Parmigiano Reggiano cheese has a guaranteed maturation period of 24 months, at least 12 of which are spent in the mountains.

Animal welfare certification

 

Another feather in the cap of ‘Solo di Pezzata Rossa Italiana’ Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is the certification of respect for animal welfare, obtained according to the protocol developed by CReNBA, the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare. In particular, the CReNBA has developed a public standard to monitor the animal welfare status of beef and dairy farms. In order to obtain this important certification and subsequently communicate it, the animal welfare assessment must cover the four macro areas of the farm’s activity: farm and personnel management, facilities and equipment, living conditions of the animals on the farm, and biosecurity.

 

“The ‘Mountain Product’ designation for our ‘Solo di Pezzata Rossa Italiana’ Parmigiano Reggiano cheese adds further value to a very high-quality product,” remarked Andrea Guidi, General Manager of DalterFood Group, “In a market in which consumers are increasingly attentive and interested in enjoying healthy products, we believe that our proposal is totally innovative and perfectly in line with the needs of modern distribution.”