REGGIO EMILIA, Italy. — The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium, the governing body that safeguards and promotes Parmigiano Reggiano PDO, is celebrating its 90th birthday this year. Founded in 1934, the Consortium’s efforts throughout the last century have quadrupled Parmigiano Reggiano production. It has also successfully transformed the cheese in a global Made in Italy icon, with an export quota of 47 per cent.
The Consortium’s early years saw 2,000 dairies produce more than 37,000 tons of Parmigiano Reggiano, crafted with milk from 430,000 cows. In 2023, 292 dairies hailing from the DOP production zones (Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantova, the right of the Po’ River and the left of the Reno River) yielded four million wheels, or 160,000 tonnes of cheese, with milk from approximately 267,000 cows, a testament to technological advances and refined techniques.
Along with preserving the company’s heritage and historical production, the Consortium has also worked to introduce the PDO cheese on a global stage, first illustrated in 1939 at the World Expo in New York City. In the decades since, the Consortium has bolstered demand in third markets, demonstrating an exportation rate in 50 countries. The company racked up 150 medals at the 2023 World Cheese Awards, claiming the crown as the most awarded cheese at the ceremony for the 11th-consecutive year.
“We may be 90 years old, but we feel more energetic and excited for the future than ever,” says Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Consortium. “In the last few years alone, from 2020 to today, we’ve faced enormous challenges, from the pandemic to economic uncertainties triggered by world affairs, including increasing inflation, rising costs of raw materials and more. At the same time, in the last three years, our consumer turnover has reached 2.9 million euros and the export quota is up to 47 per cent. These results are thanks to the entire production process, from the loyalty of the consumers to the commitment to artisan techniques and respect for the land where Parmigiano Reggiano is produced. We’re currently in a moment of change that the inevitable revolutions of the future are bringing: sustainability, the management of production costs in an unpredictable world and more. These elements, central in the future of Parmigiano Reggiano PDO, will unfold in spheres that’ll be governed by the Consortium, which was founded on the principle of the power of collective action.”
Today, the cheese comes in Kosher, Halal and Mountain varieties. To mark this milestone, the Consortium has planned a series of events throughout the year, including a recent gala at the Italian Embassy in Paris hosted by the Italian Ambassador to France, Emanuela D’Alessandro. At the gala, 11 dairy farms who won last year’s Parmigiano Reggiano Palios were celebrated. The guest of honour for the evening was three-Michelin starred chef Massimo Bottura of Osteria Francescana in Modena.
