“Get them all on board”. This is the goal of Nicola Bertinelli, president of the Parmigiano Reggiano PDO protection Consortium, speaking about the dairies that are gradually joining the e-commerce initiative which started on July 10th to promote the purchase of the King of cheeses directly from producers.
A few days after the launch, “traffic and sales data are positive – says Bertinelli – a good result considering that targeted promotional and advertising actions have not started yet. The good start is already increasing adhesions from the dairies.”
BUYING DIRECTLY FROM PRODUCERS
So far, online buyers seem to prefer long maturing cheese, which is more difficult to find within traditional retail channels, as well as organic Parmigiano Reggiano. By 2021 the Consortium wants a share of 15% of total production (equal to about 500 thousand wheels) to be sold directly and online.
The online shop is part of a wider strategy, carried out by the Consortium over the last three years. The development of the online shop will continue in the coming months, to allow also non-Italian consumers to buy PDO Parmigiano Reggiano directly from the dairies.
PARMIGIANO REGGIANO PDO IN NUMBERS
The growth in production that characterized the first months of 2020 went hand in hand with an increase in consumption. In March, in large-scale retail chains this resulted in a sales volume growth of +36% compared to March 2019. At the same time, however, for some months now the market price at the source has been unsatisfactory. The Consortium has therefore purchased 320,000 wheels from dairies to rebalance the price level.