Italy, with the national cheese team CheeseItaly, is preparing to participate in the World Championship Cheese Contest, an international competition in the cheese sector.
The event has taken place every two years since 1957 and will be staged from March 5-7 in Madison, Wisconsin, United States of America.
Around 3000 dairy products from all over the world are competing.
Made in Italy products will compete, ranging from hard pasta, made from milk and sheep's milk, to blue cheeses, from stretched curds, including buffalo, to fresh cheeses.
Among the protagonists are Parmigiano Reggiano Dop from the various provinces of the district aged 24 to 30 months, Grana Padano Dop, aged for 20 and 34 months, Gorgonzola Dop, Tuscan Pecorino Dop, fresh Asiago Dop, Burrata from Puglia , the Caciocavallo Sillano Dop, but also the Caciocavallo".
The Italian companies in the field include both large dairies with a long tradition of exporting to the United States and small artisanal producers.
"Italy - says Gabriele Arlotti, creator of the CheeseItaly group - has an impressive variety of cheeses that can consolidate our position in the United States where our country exports 30,000 tons of cheeses for a value of over half a billion euros. Certainly numbers can be increased if we consider that the consumption of cheeses in the USA is almost 200 times higher and increasingly attentive to PDO and PGI."
"We are talking about cheeses - underlines Arlotti - which the American market appreciates and which will compete without fear, under the eyes and palates of 80 international jurors, with products from other countries in the world. Despite the strong competition, the quality of the dairy products Italians do not fear comparisons, as demonstrated by the 70 international awards obtained by the National Italian Cheese Team in just 4 years of activity."
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