A Mountain Niche Production: the case of Bettelmatt cheese in the Antigorio and Formazza Valleys (Piedmont - Italy)

Both agriculture and tourism are two extremely important drivers for mountain areas. In particular, the former plays a primary role in mountain territories, also regarding such aspects like the multi-functionality of agricultural businesses that increasingly differentiate their offer, integrating the latter component into their activities. In this context, the European Union has created a new tool dedicated to food products, called “Mountain Product term”, by EU Regulation no. 1151/2012. The aim of this study is to assess the economic implications of the market of Bettelmatt cheese, a niche product of excellence in the panorama of cheese production of the mountains of the Verbano-Cusio-Ossola, in the Piedmont Region. So as to pursue the objectives of the research, initially all commercial farms who are members of the Association of Bettelmatt Cheese Producers were identified. At a later stage, the companies implicated in marketing, identified by the producers as the main purchasers of the rounds, were involved. The collection of data was carried out by semi-structured interviews as to the business activities involving Bettelmatt, information and perception about the optional quality term “mountain product”. The results obtained emphasise that, in general, all producers should respect the guidelines provided by the regulations and, therefore, they should be permitted to use the wording “Mountain product”. The distributors note some elements of criticality of the product i.e. the high wholesale cost of the product and the limited availability of the product i.e. 5,000 rounds per year, that currently limits an adequate dissemination of the product.