Summary

Cattle farming (both meat and dairy) is a significant economic activity in the Aveto Valley in the Apennines. Caseificio Val d’Aveto has been manufacturing quality cheese from local milk since 1991. The firm’s management felt that product diversification was the only way to guarantee greater revenues and therefore, the survival of the local cattle farming sector.Since 2007, Caseificio Val d’Aveto has been making Greek-style yoghurt. Growing demand meant it needed to increase production capacity. In 2017, RDP support was used to add a new wing to the factory building, devoted to the processing, packaging and storage of Caseificio Val d’Aveto's signature yoghurt.

Results

Despite having achieved significant sales volumes, the dairy has maintained an entirely local supply chain, thus contributing to a strong territorial identification of its products, to the point of becoming a key element of its reputation.

The dairy products factory employs 23 people from the Aveto Valley; 3 jobs were created by the investments made with the 2014 – 2020 RDP support.

Caseificio Val d’Aveto processed 25% more milk from local suppliers between 2016 and 2018.

It is too soon to the evaluate economic and territorial effects of the investment. It is worth noting that in 2017, 70% of the company’s 3.6 million-euro turnover came from sales of its yoghurt.