By 10 November 2023

Dairy Summit 2023, appointment in Parma for the Italian dairy supply chain

The protagonists of the national milk supply chain, together with some of the leaders of European agricultural policy, will meet at a conference on Friday 10 November in Parma, at the Crédit Agricole Green Life, for the fifth edition of the Dairy Summit, the event organized by the Tecniche Nuove editorial group to compare all the “souls” of the Italian dairy supply chain.

“Dop and Igp cheeses, new rules for new markets” and “The sustainability of certified supply chains” will be the two macro topics on the agenda. The appointment, moreover, comes just after the approval, at European level, of the reform of the Regulation on GIs (geographical indications). Once in force, i.e. in the first months of 2024, this instrument will allow the excellent Made in Italy PDO and PGI products to be much better protected from imitation attempts and Italian sounding, starting with cheeses.

The new GI regulation, in fact, represents a fundamental goal for those who produce PDOs and PGIs. Suffice it to say that Italy, with its 887 Geographical Indications, is the leader throughout Europe in this special ranking (second is France which stops at 764), for an economic value estimated at around 20 billion euros (source: Osservatorio Ismea Qualivita). The importance increases further if we consider that the value of counterfeits and fakes made in Italy today have reached levels of around 120 billion euros (source: Ismea).

Another central point for the development of the national dairy supply chain concerns sustainability, which must increasingly be expressed on three fronts: environmental, social and economic.

«The Dairy Summit – confirms Antonio Auricchio, president of Afidop, association of Italian PDO and PGI cheeses – will be a strategic event to take stock of the opportunities offered by the new GI regulation for the protection of our cheeses, starting from greater online protection , thanks to the ex-officio on Internet domains, up to the fight against devaluing practices, to support the value of the product in Italy and abroad. These are key steps to defend a sector that is worth 4.6 billion euros in production and represents 59% of Italian branded products and to combat Italian sounding, which has reached 120 billion. A fundamental point – continues Auricchio – is the sustainability of the certified supply chains, from an environmental, social and economic point of view and of animal welfare and health, whose commitments to be respected can be agreed upon by the consortia. An area on which Afidop and the supply chains have been working for some time with important projects and investments, which we will present in three dedicated round tables, together with the Consortia for the Protection of Grana Padano Dop, Pecorino Romano Dop, Mozzarella di Bufala Campana Dop and Parmigiano Reggiano Dop. The challenge will be to define possible guidelines to be used to draw up sustainability reports, finding the right tool to certify the supply chains while respecting their diversity.”

The program of the event

As regards the programme, after the introductory greetings at 10am from Crédit Agricole Italia which is hosting the event, at 10.10am Ersilia Di Tullio from Nomisma will offer an overview of “The new European regulation on GIs”. At 10.30, round table moderated by Eugenio Occhialini, director of Edagricole, on “The opportunities of the new regulation for the Italian dairy system”, with the participation of MEP Paolo De Castro and Riccardo Deserti (president of Origin International), Joao Onofre (head of IG European Commission DG Agri) and Roberta Cafiero (Masaf). At 11am there will be a round table on consumption entitled “Made in Italy playing at home, perspectives on internal consumption” with interventions by: Nicola Bertinelli (president of the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium), Gianpiero Calzolari (president of Granarolo), Ettore Prandini (president of Coldiretti) and Cristiano Fini (CIA president). At 11.30, overview of the DOP cheeses by Mariella Ronga of Ismea. At 11.40 round table on “Does the new GI regulation push cheese exports?”, with the participation of Stefano Berni (general director of the Grana Padano Protection Consortium), Matteo Lasagna (vice president of Confagricoltura), Giovanni Pomella (Ad Lactalis Italy), Giovanni Guarneri (Alliance of Cooperatives) and Paolo Zanetti (president Assolatte). At 12.10, “Product information on the label to protect the consumer” will be edited by Marco Cuppini, director of the GS1 Italy Study and Communication Center. At 12.25 round table “Experiences in retail” with Francesco Avanzini (Conad) and Giovanni Taliana (Aspiag Service Despar).

The conclusions of the morning session will be delivered by MEP Paolo De Castro.

The afternoon session will open at 2.30 pm and will focus on the theme of sustainability. Introducing the theme “The relevance of certified supply chains in the Italian and global panorama” will be Antonio Auricchio, president of Afidop, and Emilie Vandercandelaere of FAO. At 2.45 pm, round table “The environmental dimension of the sustainability of certified supply chains”, with Andrea Fontanella (Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna di Pisa, Technical Assistance of Mase for the implementation of the Made Green in Italy scheme), Carlo Costa (Consortium Grana Padano Dop), Gianfranco Gaias (Consorzio Pecorino Romano Dop) and Gianmaria Bettoni (Caseificio cooperative Torre Pallavicina). At 3.30 pm there will be a round table “The economic dimension of the sustainability of certified supply chains” with Alice Medioli (University of Parma), Pier Maria Saccani, (Consortium of Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP) and Nisio Paganin (Granterre). At 4.15 pm we will talk about the “Social dimension of the sustainability of certified supply chains” with Filippo Arfini (University of Parma), Marco Nocetti (Parmigiano Reggiano Dop Consortium) and Tino Brugnoli (Brugnoli Fratelli Soc. Agricola di Bardi).