Services
The Services Offered by the Consortium for the Protection of Provolone Valpadana
The task of the Consorzio Tutela Provolone Valpadana is to provide services that aim to protect, monitor and improve the production and marketing of Provolone Valpadana DOP. It provides its services to its Associates and to private companies, public bodies, and private bodies that request them.
In particular, the services provided by the Consortium are:
- Assistance to members: technical, legal and organizational;
- Supervisory activities relating to: issuing authorisations for pre-packaging and use as an ingredient, technical/operational support in packaging and distribution operations to charitable organizations and verification of product conformity at points of sale;
- Research and development;
- Organization of training activities for members;
- Promotion of Provolone Valpadana DOP cheese;
- Branding of aged Provolone Valpadana DOP.
The Consorzio Tutela Provolone Valpadana has identified and described, in specific Management Manuals, the variables that must be monitored, controlled and verified to ensure that the services provided comply with the specifications. The specifications for the provision of the various services have been defined and approved by the Board of Directors.
Assistance
- technical assistance;
- legal assistance.
The Consortium carries out, upon specific request, checks at the Producers of Provolone Valpadana to ascertain the conformity of the process and the product to the requirements set out in the Specifications of the PDO Cheese “Provolone Valpadana”.
The control activities consist of:
- checks on the production process at the facilities of the associated dairies.
- testing activities carried out on the finished product. This activity includes sampling and subsequent forwarding to the analysis laboratory when necessary.
Surveillance
The surveillance activities carried out by the Consorzio Tutela Provolone Valpadana are related to:
- the release of authorisations for the pre-packaging of Provolone Valpadana DOP and for its use as an ingredient in food compositions;
- technical/operational support in the packaging and distribution of Provolone Valpadana DOP to charitable organizations;
- product conformity checks at points of sale. This activity is also carried out on behalf of other Consortia.
Research and development
The Consortium carries out Research and Development projects
To this end it proceeds to:
- identify and record the basic requirements: proposals, needs of the producers of Provolone Valpadana PDO and/or legislative needs;
- identify and list in sequence the different design phases and/or activities to be carried out and establish the responsibilities for their execution;
- assign appropriate resources for both the design and execution of R&D projects as a whole;
- determine the teams and how they should interact in the design process;
- define the methods and tools to be used to document the design process in the various phases and/or activities;
- identify ways to implement and monitor the execution of Research and Development projects;
- identify those responsible, times and suitable tools to proceed with the review, verification and validation of the design results.
Some projects developed by the Consortium:
- development of a system aimed at controlling the development of surface mould;
- qualitative characteristics of rennet and its organoleptic influence on Provolone Valpadana DOP;
- abandonment of the preservative E239;
- experimental cheesemaking of Provolone Valpadana DOP at a pilot dairy;
- investigation for the characterization of Lombardy DOP and IGP products with the aim of enhancing the suitability and peculiarity of the products with analytical determinations and sensory analyses;
- enhancement and characterization of Provolone Valpadana through innovative technological systems to identify a method aimed at molecular characterization;
- creation of a “Manual of correct operating practices for the production and sale of Provolone Valpadana DOP”
Training
Organization of training activities for members
The Consortium for the Protection of Provolone Valpadana through:
- its protection activity;
- periodic contacts with producers;
- the problems highlighted by the assistance activity;
- external relations;
collects the training needs of its customers.
Following this collection, training topics are hypothesized and, where necessary, the planning and execution of the planned training activities are delegated to external bodies.
Promotion
The Consortium promotes Provolone Valpadana DOP through the press, television, radio, cinema and trade fairs, with the aim of enhancing its image and informing consumers about its qualities.
Over the years, market studies have been carried out on product repositioning, on innovative ways of presenting the product to consumers and on the search for outlets in new markets.
Branding
The Consortium offers a service to enhance the aged Provolone Valpadana DOP.
Holders of Provolone Valpadana DOP piccante can request the Consortium, starting from the eighth month of maturing, to bear the “PVS” brand, an acronym for “Provolone Valpadana Stagionato”.
In order to be able to boast the aforementioned brand, the cheese must pass a selective test which concerns the external appearance of the forms, the structure of the paste, the colour and the organoleptic test.
After the required requirements have been demonstrated, the qualification is attributed to the forms free from any defect, both external and internal, with the affixing of the “PVS” stamp and the “Provolone Valpadana Stagionato” certification is issued.
