Indagine sui produttori artigianali di salumi : Valutazioni socio-economiche e tecnologiche

The Italian sector of meat-based product processing is represented by a variety of small and medium-sized enterprises. They experience technical and financial difficulties in complying with official food safety regulations (Directive 93/43 EEC). Sanitary standards, in particular, generally defined for large processing plants, are not always compatible with such small production units. With the purposes to investigate the socio-economic and technological aspects of dry and fermented sausage production, a survey on traditional workshops has been carried out in five Provinces of the Pianura Padana, in order to clarify the meaning of these artisanal enterprises within the traditional agro-food production system. The paper contains the results of the conducted survey, which focuses on: - characteristics of the workshops (type and amount of production, people involved, link with farm); - production technology (raw materials, processing, characteristics of the products); - marketing organization (place, packaging, prices). The results show the importance of the small enterprises on the market of typical meat production and, at the same time, the great differences of preparations present in the region, that are part of the rooted gastronomic culture, not cancelled by new production techniques and modern technology.