Following Parma Ham’s two-year investment in sustainability, its producers can optimise performance and minimise environmental impact
The Parma Ham Consortium strengthens its commitment to the sustainability of its producers by activating participation in the Made Green in Italy scheme for Parma Ham.
The culmination of an initiative launched in 2022, the program achieves the stated goal of defining an environmental policy that supports Parma Ham producers by optimising their sustainability.
The Parma PDO protection body collaborated with highly qualified partners of recognised authority: the Politecnico di Milano who led the implementation of the project, Enersem who developed the software and research, and CSQA, who championed the verification of the project.
Over the course of more than two years, these partners calculated the environmental footprint of Parma Ham by applying the Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) methodology, a tool made available by the European Commission to Parma Ham and other products to assess the environmental impact of Parma Ham production. This research was made possible thanks to the involvement and active participation of producers under the Prosciutto di Parma Consortium (validated by the CSQA Certification Body).
As a result, the Consortium was qualified to activate the Made Green in Italy scheme for Parma Ham. The Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) created this national certification scheme to evaluate the environmental footprint of Made in Italy products and recognize those of high environmental quality. Participation in the scheme is voluntary.
During the project, a software was created for calculating and reducing environmental footprints, and technology to optimise the performance of the entire production cycle. Producers can receive customised improvement indications, which will aid in reducing their environmental footprint, as well as a report on their environmental performance.
Alessandro Utini, President of the Parma Ham Consortium, comments:
“The value of a product as unique as Parma Ham is also measured by its consistency with consumer needs and with the challenges of a rapidly changing world. The indissoluble bond that our Protected Designation of Origin has with its territory strengthens our commitment to minimise the impact generated by our production, which is why we are particularly proud to have conducted this project together with the Politecnico di Milano, Enersem and CSQA. The main objective was to support our companies in their already substantial commitment to the ecological transition, thus strengthening environmental protection, for the future of the industry and for the new generations. What we note with great satisfaction is that a significant number of producers have already decided to use the software we have created, confirming the environmental ethics of our sector, also to the benefit of its competitiveness on foreign markets in relation to these important issues.”
