The genuineness of Varzi salame is due to the tight bond between the territory it comes from and the traditional process through which it is made. The Salame di Varzi consortium was born to safeguard these fundamental aspects.
The district’s historical events , its people’s intense trade and, importantly, its climate and geographical characteristics are certainly among the main reasons for the popularity of salame in the Staffora valley. Because of this it is crucial that the salame be made following its original recipe and procedures, defined by the Production Guidelines for the Salame di Varzi.
Discover the consortium
Thanks to the Safeguard Consortium a “Salame di Varzi” Denomination of Origin (D.O.P) was initially defined, and thereafter a request to the European Union was put forward in order to brand the product as D.O.P., which underlines the product’s exclusive dependency on its geographical area of reference.
Only a product which has been made and seasoned in an area within the municipalities of the 15 Towns of Bagnaria, Brallo di Pregòla, Cecima, Fortunago, Godiasco, Menconico, Montesegale, Ponte Nizza, Rocca Susella, Romagnese, Santa Margherita di Staffora, Val di Nizza, Valverde, Varzi e Zavattarello, which are part of the Pavia province, may be put under such brand name.
The history of the Consortium is a convoluted one. It was initially founded by a group of 11 producers in 1950, in order to represent the produce of a specific area, however they failed to connect.
A little history
About 35 years later, in July 1984, the Varzi city council along with the chamber of commerce of Pavia and the Comunità Montana D.O.P. – the union of municipalities within the mountainous area of the Pavia province – formed the “Volountary consortium between Varzi Salame producers”. Its goal was to achieve D.O.P quality certification, as well as to market the product, safeguard and guarantee the Salame’s production standards. In order to achieve this goal 29 producers signed up to this project.