Padua/Treviso, 6 October 2024 – Caseus confirms itself once again as a true food and wine symposium capable of attracting the entire world of dairy production to Villa Contarini: from farms to mountain huts, passing through small dairies and large dairies; in addition to the Veneto producers, 29 dairy companies from all over the Peninsula and 9 extra-border productions from Poland, Estonia, Greece and Slovakia were also present.
The success of the exhibition format was confirmed, over a kilometre of tastings, cooking shows, market exhibitions, meetings with cheesemakers, all activities sold out since the morning of the two days, more than 4000 people managed to register. Not only competitions and tasting activities but an event that also stimulated reflection by involving the production world and the consumer. In fact, the round table “Cheeses: expression of the territory, history, tradition and passion” was held this morning, which highlighted how dairy products have always been an identity and how the evolution of cheesemakers and the quality of the raw material have made cheese made in Italy a product admired all over the world, for which it is essential to pay attention.
The awards were presented this morning to the best cheeses of the event, judged according to the palates of a golden jury, composed of journalists and industry experts and a popular jury, composed of a sample of consumers, two now consolidated events that identify the best cheeses among those already awarded by the Caseus Veneti competition, to understand what the consumption trends are for palates different from those of the technical juries.
The two judges, for the first time, elected the same cheeses as the absolute best for 2 categories: DOP aged (Piave DOP – Lattebusche, Belluno) Various cheeses (Morlacco del Grappa di Malga – Malga Coston, Treviso) “a factor that could be an indicator of a public that is attentive to the product it puts on the table, and this can only be good for the entire supply chain” commented the President of Aprolav Terenzio Borga.
For the golden jury, the other noteworthy productions were: DOP Fresh (Montasio DOP mezzano – Latteria di Roverbasso, Treviso) Alternative cheeses (Flavoured cheeses – Malga Faggioli, Verona) and Farm cheeses (Goat cheeses – Soc. Agr. Ceron Tarcisio, Treviso). The popular jury instead awarded the Monte Veronese DOP d’allevo (6 months) from Caseificio Gardoni in Verona for the fresh DOP, the Goat Cheese (previously acid coagulation) from Malga Faggioli (VR) for the alternative cheeses and the Venturin farm from Treviso for the Farm Cheeses.
In total, the two competitions awarded a total of 62 dairy products: 14 for the 6th National Farm Cheese Competition, which had 89 registered products, and 48 for the 20th Caseus Veneti Competition which evaluated a total of 386 products and, for the eight most numerous categories, distinguished between dairy and farm production. The awards also included 7 category prizes, i.e. those niche sections that see a limited number of products. The “Best Cheesemaker” award was also given to Sonia Longhin, of the Longin Mara and Sonia di Campagna Lupia (VE) agricultural company.
Caseus is thus consolidated as a reference event for the national dairy sector where the objective has remained the same as in the beginning, namely to promote quality dairy production and advance a constructive comparison between local, national and international productions.
An event that takes advantage of the synergies cultivated in the various editions as well as between the large DOP productions
(Grana Padano, Asiago, Casatella Trevigiana, Provolone Valpadana, Monte Veronese, Piave, Montasio and
Mozzarella Stg) but also between ONAF, Consorzio Prosecco DOC, Asolo Prosecco Superiore, PPL (small
local productions), Campagna Amica and the Venetian peasant chefs, Consorzio Olio Garda DOP, Friuli-Venezia
Giulia, Veneto Agricoltura and Accademia del Tartufo.