Parmigiano Reggiano supply chain certified for animal wellness
DALTERFOOD GROUP PIONEERS INNOVATION IN THE PDO PARMIGIANO REGGIANO SUPPLY CHAIN
Animal welfare certification and digitised milk collection by implementing Milk Trace, an app on the Android OS platform: these are the two innovations by DalterFood Group, which continues to invest in the certification of its PDO Parmigiano Reggiano supply chain in an increasingly strict and distinctive way. These projects involved the cheese factories at Canossa (Reg. No. 417) and Cigarello (Reg. No. 320), the biggest mountain cheese factory in the area.
DalterFood Group has been awarded voluntary supply chain certification for animal welfare, following the protocol created by the CReNBA, the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Welfare. Given the lack of a European animal welfare standard, the assessment handbooks for dairy cattle welfare produced by the CReNBA form the reference document in Italy for this subject.
To be awarded this voluntary certification, which proves the use of milk from cowsheds that comply with animal welfare requirements, the farms selected by DalterFood Group had to pass an exam covering four macro-areas of their business:
– company and staff management
– facilities and equipment
– animal living conditions at livestock farms
– and biosafety.
The complex nature of this certification is not just restricted to the milk collection stage but also involves everyone in the production chain of this famous Emilian cheese: from 40 livestock farms to two cheese factories where it is processed, continuing on with maturing rooms where the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano slowly matures, and then on to cutting, portioning and packaging at the Sant’Ilario d’Enza factory, right up to the end product storage warehouses where it waits to be shipped out to Italy and around the world.
“Animal welfare certification is an important recognition”, announced Alberto Viappiani, the CEO of DalterFood Group, “and adds value to our farmers’ work, without whom we would have never been able to achieve this result. At the same time, this certification also rewards the hard work which our group has put into the supply chain, investing in cheese factories and human resources, with a truly unique approach in the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano sector”.
In fact, animal welfare certification for the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano made at the Canossa and Cigarello cheese factories is just the latest result in the innovation policy which DalterFood Group has adopted to revolutionise the supply chain of this prestigious Italian cheese. The launch of a pioneering project is also following suit, involving the implementation of Milk Trace, an app on the Android OS platform to trace milk collection, from livestock farms to the Colline di Selvapiana e Canossa cheese factory and the Cigarello cheese factory. Each driver is given a smartphone and a portable printer and, during their two daily milk rounds, they collect information, updating the company database in real-time, which is used for administrative procedures relating to deliveries and all company reporting.
“Our digital system to manage the flow of milk collection through a mobile app is one of the most comprehensive and effective ones around, and means we have continuously up-to-date information in real-time”, added Alberto Viappiani. “The benefits obtained by the company are linked to process efficiency, which is now monitored day by day. It is another guarantee for the consumer of instant and accurate data traceability, which proves our group’s commitment to food safety”.
