They've given up, for now. The French and Israeli bleats will not resound in the sheepfolds of Gennargentu and Campidano, Anglona and Barigadu. Assault repelled, until the next. The industrialists, after hours of exhausting confrontation, are forced to an unexpected stop. The modification of the disciplinary for the production of "Pecorino Romano Dop" does not have to be done. All postponed to next January 12th. Christmas truce, but the war is brooding under the snow of the Barbagia. The postponement is not, in fact, a definitive renunciation of those "Trojan sheep" that the general staff of the dairy industrialists of Sardinia would like to introduce into the production system of the island.
The trap
A real "trap" in the words of Gianuario Falchi, one of the leaders of the "milk revolt" of 2019. The postponement is a success of the No compared to those "catastrophic" changes, but it is, at the same time, the confirms that that lockpick of the French and Israeli sheep in Sardinian land is a real sword of Damocles on the most important sector of the island. The tug-of-war between industrialists and shepherds is not explained differently for that apparent and modest 10% of milk produced by foreign sheep that we would like to legitimize with the modification of the production specification of Pecorino Romano PDO. Both the shepherds and the industrialists know, each from their own point of view, how crucial and at the same time risky it is to open a passage in the production system of protected designation of origin cheese.
They do not trust
The reasons for that ten percent, 20/30 million liters of milk, according to the shepherds, are the viaticum to open a milk pipeline with intensive farms, located a little in Sardinia and, perhaps, a little not. In reality the shepherds do not trust those cisterns that go up and down from the Continent towards the Island. They perceive, and in some cases expressly denounce it, the risk that milk from farms a thousand miles from Sardinia crosses the Tyrrhenian Sea, eventually supplying some island dairies. At that point that 10% of "genetically" authorized milk, if it passed the modification, would end up being, in fact, a real Trojan Horse (sheep), able to open a real "foreign" and "intensive" passage ”In the production of Pecorino Romano. Who will control that ten percent? Who will have the authority to monitor the production of 300 million liters of milk produced in over 10,000 farms scattered in every corner of the island? Nobody. The production chain has always been uncontrollable and any attempt to guarantee traceability has failed, both on an organizational and institutional level. Therefore, shepherds fear the opening of a "door" which risks reversing the production process, from extensive to intensive, from pasture to stable. The risk is substantial and structural.
Price at risk
On the one hand, the inclusion of that ten per cent would risk restarting the overproduction of milk, with a new drop in the price of sheep's milk, on the other hand it would constitute a clumsy attempt to change the very scenario of Sardinia. It would be an island without sheep, precisely because the introduction of the Israeli and French species would end up locking the flocks in the stables, abandoning grazing and extensive production, favoring the purely quantitative and intensive one. Farewell, in fact, to the organoleptic qualities of the extensive productions, guaranteed by the breed of the “Sardinian sheep” and by the variegated Sardinian pastures forged by the climatic and vegetable characteristics of the island. We would pass from an identity and exclusive production, to an industrial one, with a sort of battery sheep, a little chicken coop, a little assembly line. All this would end up attacking the much sought-after quality of Pecorino Romano recognized worldwide and rewarded for its highly identifying production peculiarity. In reality the shepherds, as well as the industrialists, do not trust the control system, which does not exist from every point of view.
Out of market
The risk is that the agro-pastoral system of the island will be put out of business in terms of cost and quantity. Having kept up that hypothesis of modification, despite the very strong opposition of Sardinian shepherds, shows that the industrial system attributes to that 10% of "foreign" sheep a "strategic" importance that goes well beyond that apparently limited percentage. All this just at a time when EU regulations are introducing greater rigor in terms of the traceability of raw materials.
Right to traceability
After all, the consumer has an increasingly right, and demands it, to know not only the territorial but also the "genetic" origin of the product he consumes. All this, obviously and fortunately, calls into question any possible counterfeiting, easily traceable precisely through the genetic codes of the milk first and the cheese later. If there is an absolute ban on using "foreign" sheep, the sanctions would be automatic for anyone who uses them, it would be impossible, however, also due to the absolute lack of controls, to verify and sanction that that 10% has not become, instead, 20-30% or much more. A very risky passpartout for the entire sector which has made product quality its strong point. The data that record a sensational result of Pecorino Romano which in the last three years has in fact doubled its prices cannot be explained otherwise. The Milan Chamber of Commerce records the values of the most important square.
The doubling
In January 2019, in the midst of the great struggle of Sardinian shepherds, Pecorino Romano was quoted at 5.53 euros per kilogram, yesterday the cheese exchange marked 9.85 euros per kg, or almost double the price of three years does. A result obtained not only thanks to the sensational mobilizations, which have certainly triggered worldwide interest in the product, but also for the exclusive organoleptic characteristics of Pecorino Romano, capable of consolidating traditional markets and targeting new ones.
Economic boom
An economic boom that does not affect, on the contrary, it also strengthens the quantities of the dairy year, with more than 9.9% of production compared to the previous year. To date, with still provisional data, 28,968 tons of Pecorino Romano have been produced, compared to 26,367 in the same period last year.
Parmesan & Pecorino
Another fact that allows us to understand the golden moment of the cheese typical of Sardinian dairy production is the comparison with the giant of Parmigiano Reggiano. Yesterday, in the Milanese square, there was a head-to-head of great importance, with Parmigiano at 10.20 euros per kg and Pecorino Romano at 9.85 euros per kg.
Strongest in the world
A booming economic picture that has recorded record data also for exports at a world level. The non-EU markets of Pecorino Romano and Fiore Sardo recorded an increase of 16.1% of tons exported between January and August 2021, compared to the same period of 2020. The trade balance shows a gain of 121 million and 740 thousand euros, corresponding to a plus 27.2% compared to last year. All data relating to world exports, the United States first of all. A satisfaction that, however, is also recorded in the European context with earnings that mark an increase of 10.40% compared to 2020.
European primacy
In Europe too, the economic result is significant with a profit of 36 million euros. With a quotation that has broken through the wall of 10.36 euros per kg, a record that surpasses the same quotation for Parmigiano Reggiano. Elements to be analyzed to understand the reasons for this performance of Pecorino Romano, 97% produced in Sardinia, and what potential it can still express in international competition. Certainly the quality of the product and the peculiarity of identity constitute, also on the marketing level, as well as on the organoleptic one, an indispensable strength on which the bet cannot mark setbacks or missteps.
Showdown
The clash now moves to 2022. On January 12 there will be a showdown. The aim of the shepherds is to block in every way that pick of "foreign" sheep, real "infiltrators", which risk attacking the entire agro-pastoral system of Sardinia. In this economic and market context, it is an obligation to arm the product with only the "Sardinian breed" sheep. Otherwise, the risk is that of upsetting Sardinia: no more grazing sheep, but locked up in the stable. And Pecorino Romano any cheese.
Mauro Pili