Distinguishing cheese wheels with brands, safeguarding, supervising and protecting: these are the fundamental pillars of the Consortium’s activities. From its very beginnings, and with Article No. 3 of the 1954 Statute of the Consorzio del Parmigiano Reggiano,which clearly states its objective:

“defend and protect the production and trade of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, and the use of its name”.

Branding the forms to make them stand out on the market, thereby protecting production, supervising and protecting the designation in trade:  

These actions have been the Consortium’s priority since its inception, and they have become even more important, increasing their influence on both the production and commercial stages in the various international markets. The purpose is simple: to bring consumers the best possible quality and guarantee of authenticity, both at home and abroad.

What is a taste, a smell, an aroma?

 It is the result of a very long series of coincidences, hard work, and experience. With knowledge, it is a way of taking a chance and tempting fate, so as to create a tradition. Which is nothing more than a continuous refinement of methodology, small gestures, and superstitions. They all keep within them all those details that matter but which, in reality, we easily forget: loves, glances, fears, the morning light, friends, stories told at night before sleeping, running in the fields, the first and the last day of work, old people’s wrinkles, drops falling from your forehead and ending up on the fresh grass, sunsets over the plains, and tiny glasses of wine.

This makes up the combination of  taste, smell and aroma.

But the first thing to do with all this … apart from continuing to do it the best way we can … is to protect it.

The history of Parmigiano Reggiano has been full of imitations, counterfeits, and misuse of names. But at a certain point, the producers decided that if they really wanted to be ambitious, they had to do something unprecedented. They created the Consortium.

Defending the product against counterfeits or imitations, ensuring its distribution, and ensuring that production is safe, top quality, and made according to the correct guidelines. These are the tasks. Together, they form a history that spans parliamentary halls, courts, shops, large or small, farms, dairies, and producers’ assemblies. There is a veritable legislature on Parmigiano Reggiano, complete with publications edited by the Consortium, where decrees and laws on the denomination of Parmigiano Reggiano from the 1950s to the present day are collected.

We are in the 1950s, the period just after the Stresa Convention. If we look back, we see the remnants of war, the scars, and the fears that cling to us like the smell of dust and burning. But if we look closely, a light in people’s eyes speaks to a desire for new things. To pick up where everything left off, and to take on the future.

On June 1st 1951, dairy market representatives from Austria, Denmark, France, Italy, Norway, Sweden, and Switzerland met in Stresa. The idea was to have standard rules for the protection of cheese designations. It resulted in a milestone for the market. They all pledged to mutually protect products from other countries. 

Once internationally recognised, the next move was up to the Consortium.

The priority became to raise awareness, both with consumers and retailers, of the distinctive features of Parmigiano Reggiano. What are the characteristics that distinguish it from others? And what are the regulations governing their production? 

This is where it all began. Following the 1954 law on the designation of origin of cheeses, the first production standard was published. It had fundamental rules on fodder and the absence of additives, which gave Parmigiano Reggiano its distinctiveness. Hence the decision to focus on the cheese’s guarantee of protection.

At this point, we can look around and try to understand the distinctive features of these changing times.

These years are when the Consortium begins to assert itself. The law already acknowledged its responsibilities (see the decrees of the President of the Republic and ministerial decrees); now all that remains to be seen is the reaction of the people.

And that reaction is hugely positive. There were handwritten or typed letters asking for information and clarification. There was a complaint of having bought Mantovano instead of Reggiano cheese, wanting to know what steps to take. Someone else inquired whether the purchasing and fulfilling procedure was correct. And so on. The Consortium became a point of reference. It started to feel human, close, and ready to solve problems thanks to its authority.

We can imagine someone at the Consortium reading all these letters and reports, and promptly responding.

The work of the Consortium was appreciated and valuable. In addition to information, tips, and protection, there is a new curated plan on selling Parmigiano Reggiano. Thus, internal memos were sent out to make sure of no errors or inconsistencies.

The 1970s. The Consortium’s activities were going well, and Parmigiano Reggiano is basking in its great success. At this point, a new chapter opened. Rather, something that had always existed sarted being reinforced: counterfeiting, evocation and imitation. 

Parmigiano Reggiano is a high-quality cheese that is greatly renowned. It is well-loved and admired, and it is a symbol of Italian rural and traditional culture and great flavour. It is a natural consequence that there would be imitators, in good or bad faith. Since that decade, especially abroad, there has been a practice of using the name “Parmigiano” or “Reggiano”, often adapting them to the various languages, even for cheeses that are not “Parmigiano” nor “Reggiano”.

It does not go unnoticed. By the newspapers, by consumers. And by the Consortium.

But let us leap back in time. Twenty years later, in the 1990s, the landscape of the Consortium’s activities was much easier to observe. 

In 1996, the European Union’s Regulation 1107 granted Parmigiano-Reggiano the DOP (PDO).

This is significant. It clarifies a topic that has been confused in people’s minds for a very long time: the term Parmesan. The challenge began. The Consortium found support in the national institutions and argued that with its DOP/PDO, in the European Community, the word Parmesan was a translation of the Protected Designation of Origin “Parmigiano Reggiano”, and must be used exclusively to indicate that exact product.

Many European countries followed the regulations. Whereas in a few others, it was quite different. Those were the years when the word Parmesan was used to generally identify hard, aged cheeses, even though they had nothing to do with the area of origin and the specifications of Parmigiano Reggiano.

The Consortium opposed this unfair practice. In order for things to be cleared up, legal action would have to be taken. On the other hand, the rule was very new, and the enforcement of the law was weak. 

Battles, petty squabbles, and tensions had to be initiated, especially with the German market. The standout case was in Munich. There was a dairy that, in 1966, asked to be allowed to produce Parmigiano Reggiano in Germany.

These battles have also generated some great results. There was the European Court of Justice’s ruling in February 2008 – on a case involving the German industry itself – which definitively established that the term “parmesan” was to be considered an evocation of the name Parmigiano Reggiano and therefore must be used for the authentic product. That was the mother of all rulings, and it is the result of continuous market surveillance, continuous legal defence action in the field, and also of the institutional relationships made by both the Consortium and the national institutions.
So, as of this moment, there was officially just one Parmesan.

What does one do once the DOP/PDO has been achieved at European level?
The Consortium’s response was to look even further afield: the international market.
And the gaze was trained mainly on the US market. The Consortium was already imagining a document with “United States of America” and “Parmigiano Reggiano” written on it.

But it is a totally different system compared to Europe. A trademark, a commercial right, must be filed and then defended with constancy.

So what was needed was open eyes, legal disputes, and courtrooms. Lots of courtrooms. To show that the Consortium is actually interested in defending the brand.

The Great Battle with Campbell’s, the soup giant, ended on April 20th, 2020.
It is a true story of ‘David and Goliath’. The US multinational, a colossus, had used images of cheeses with the typical Parmigiano Reggiano dots on packaging of some sauces in the Prego line, and the label had the word Parmesan listed in the ingredients.
This did not escape the Consortium. And after investigating the case, the Consortium went ahead with a lawsuit without further hesitation. 

It was a quite a difficult challenge, that is true, but it was worth a try.

In the end, Campbell’s was forced to remove any reference to Parmigiano Reggiano. It set a significant precedent: the big ones can be won. The effort, commitment, care, and meticulous nature of this small Consortium based in Emilia-Romagna could be felt strongly.

The Consortium’s strategy was based on victories like this one. Any success in court was then used as a global precedent. It paved the way for all other achievements.

Another example was on Italian soil. It was the case we won against Galbani. According to the law, ultimately Galbani produced a cheese that was excessively misleading for the consumer.

These are crucial victories. They are small steps that ultimately defend an idea that has been a part of the dreams of people, families, and workers for decades. People who stand united and have succeeded in protecting their home, which is a combination of taste, scent and aroma.