ALBA
Within Alba, Nicola and Michela have separate and complementary tasks. Michela takes care of all administrative matters, as well as of relations with buyers and suppliers. Nicola, who is also an agro-technician, is the cheese maker and oversees the entire production operations. “In the beginning, we also raised sheep and goats for milk, but we were forced to sell them because we had problems with the shepherd and had no direct experience. Today, we buy milk from a producer who has 300 head and produces milk just for us. His name is Antonio and, opposite to us, he risked having to sell his animals because he had no one to give the milk to” sums up Michela.
Alba’s products are mostly distributed through local retailers and restaurant owners. “We also work outside our region, because our cheese-making facility, as small as it is, has been granted the CE marking, meaning that we can market our products nationwide and take part in national events such as Cheese, in Bra (Cuneo), and the Salone del Gusto, in Turin” explains Michela.
CE Marking
“After submitting their certified notice of commencement of business (SCIA), cheese makers can begin to sell their product, but only within their province and the neighbouring ones. We immediately applied for a CE marking, allowing us to market our product anywhere: a real success, given that we only process raw milk, making raw paste cheese, from pasture-grazed animals. We were able to show that approval is possible also for businesses like ours” says Michela.
In order to obtain the marking, in accordance with two European Commission Directives of 1992 and 1993, which were transposed into Italian law in 1997, the premises need to meet strict and precise requirements.
The Covid-19 emergency put a halt on operations: “So, we used the opportunity to reorganise our model for distribution to direct customers” explains Michela.
To do so, the young entrepreneur dusted off a brand which she had created in 2015, for the project she had developed to take part in ReStartApp: Alternaturae. “We set up a service for the distribution of local products using a network – Slow Food Galdina – that we had developed when I had first moved to Molise.”
Thanks to a cooperation with Nicola’s brother – who is involved in distribution in the healthcare sector in Campobasso – Alternaturae began operating as a distributor in April (Editor’s Note: 2020), in Molise, although the goal is to expand sales nationwide.
