The protection of typical Lombardy cheeses: practices and rules between large industries and small producers (20th and 21st centuries)

The article analyses the evolution of quality standards and their application in the dairy industry in the 20th and 21st centuries. The study focuses on cheeses in Lombardy and underlines the strategies and policies implemented by both large companies and small and medium-sized producers. It shows that until the end of the Second World War the dairy products’ quality was essentially guaranteed by companies: cheese enterprises produced industrialised and standard goods, but according to traditional recipes. After the Second World War, however, there was a progressive intensification of rules and restrictions to protect the quality and territoriality of products at national and European level. In 1951, in the Stresa Conference, agreements were introduced at European level to protect national and traditional dairy productions. In Italy, designations of origin were introduced around 1955, followed by the birth of protection consortia. Finally, in 1996, Community regulations were adopted to regulate the protected designation of origin at European level.