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Structure and Production
| The Creamery |
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The term "Creamery" identifies the place where traditionally milk and fresh creams were worked, and thus its name. The foundation of the Consorzio Latterie Virgilio is based on the production of butters. European Community regulations governing the milk-cheese sector came into effect on 1 April 1968. These regulations allowed the exchange of products between the six countries of the Common Market. Especially for butter, there was the need to create production plants able to guarantee high and competitive standards of quality while being fully compliant with the new community regulations in hygiene-health matters, which the individual dairies are unable to do. Virgilio could now offer the first Italian butter with the recommendation of the European Community.
The progressive increase in the number of associated companies and the wish to make the consumer aware of the high quality of the raw materials used, led to a continuous extension of the plant over the years. The plant first opened in February 1969: located in the northern outskirts of Mantova in Viale della Favorita, the area under cover is currently 35.121sqm in a total surface area of 120.000 square meters and includes production plants for butter, UHT cream, mascarpone and UHT milk, two ageing warehouses for cheese, cheese packaging department (portioning - grating) and the cheese shipping area.
At the same time there was the progressive extension of the production activity, which currently includes:
The production and marketing of butter, by means of working rising cream from fresh milk coming from the production of Grana Padano PDO and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO at associated dairies;
The production and marketing of UHT milk, UHT cooking and whipping cream, mascarpone, butter;
The ageing, packaging and marketing of Grana Padano PDO and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO cheeses and Provolone cheese;
Ageing and maintenance service on wheels of cheese that remain in the property of the partners;
Third party working (products packaged under the brand name of large distribution companies, both in Italy and abroad);
At present Virgilio is the only Consortium in Italy that, together with its more than 70 associated dairies, has been able to achieve both the Grana Padano PDO award and the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO award.
Today the Consorzio works with the Virgilio brand name on the national and international markets, and also works as a producer for industry and large distribution brands in Italy and abroad.
In 2005 Virgilio was working with a base of milk collection numbering over 2.500 associated breeders and over 70 associated dairies, with 78 million kilograms of milk on arrival, 70 million kgs of cream, 19.000 tons of butter produced, 475.000 wheels of Grana Padano PDO and Parmigiano Reggiano PDO assigned/marketed, 180 tons of Provolone sold.
Consorzio Latterie Virgilio in 1993 purchased the slaughterhouse "Consorzio Mantua s.r.l." in Bagnolo San Vito, effectively unifying and completing the activities of the company. In these last 15 years the plant has been restructured and the production process has been modernised, involving all the departments. These continuous developments have allowed the slaughterhouse to consolidate and increase the company base, leading to the association of over 100 breeders. At present the plant has a covered surface of 26.000 square meters, in a total surface area of 141.000 square meters.
Breeders belonging to the Virgilio slaughterhouse are geographically concentrated in the areas of Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia Romagna, i.e. those areas that traditionally offer the highest amount of pork in the production of the new PDO award to "Gran Suino Padano".
The plant handles the slaughter and cutting of pork arriving from the company bases, where the market of reference is the supply of fresh cuts for the food industry (transformation industry, wholesalers and prosciutto manufacturers).
Specific cuts offered are, on the one side, the hams to be used for the production of PDO Prosciutto di San Daniele, Prosciutto di Parma, Prosciutto di Carpegna, Prosciutto Veneto and, on the other, other cuts such as Brawn, Loins, Ribs, Bacon fat, Lardon, Necks, Shoulder, Bacon, Panettone.
Some of these fresh cuts and others such as minced meats, are used for other PDOs, such as Brianza salame PDO, cacciatorino salame PDO, coppa piacentina PDO.
The company is certified to export to Russia, Japan, Switzerland, and produces frozen products for various foreign markets.
The company has the ISO 9001 quality system certification and has recently obtained production certification for pork meat UNI 10939. Partnerships with respected breeders and client company have allowed the Virgilio slaughterhouse to guarantee continuity in quality with benefits for the consumer.
Virgilio has also been able to undertake, in these years, a very important process of integration into the slaughter sector, acquiring important shares in other companies such as Bertana s.p.a., Brendolan Prosciutti s.p.a. and Castelcarni s.p.a..
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