Parmigiano Producers

Parmegiano-Reggiano Cheese Factories: Check out the list on the official Parmegiano-Reggiano consortium website. You can then look up their website and call them to see if you can come by for a tour. If you're going up for a weekend, like most of Italy it's easier to find places open on Saturday than Sunday. Here are some of them:
- Consortium's list of dairies that run tours (although it strangely doesn't include some like Hombre?)
- UPDATE: As of fall 2013, it appeared that not many caseifici (cheese producers) allowed regular tours, although it doesn't hurt to call some up (e.g. Caseificio 4 Madonne sounded like they might eventually run tours, and the Consortium might be able to arrange a tour with enough head's up). There are at least three options:
  - Caseifici Aperti - occasional weekends when the caseifici are "open" (aperti) to the public for tours, etc.
  - Antica Latteria Ducale - runs guided tours such as "visit to the caseificio with breakfast", but you have to reserve well in advance
- Latteria Sociale San Pier Damiani - still runs tours nearly every morning at 8:30, book ahead online (see below for more)
  - Hombre - if you don't have any reservations, you can try to drop in early on this caseificio to watch the cheesemaking from an upstairs gallery; in October 2013, we got there around 8 AM and the cows were already milked, but we were there in time to see the cheesemaking start at about 9 AM...you can also sneak a peek at their aging room
- Near Modena (also see the Consortio's Modena Guidebook, which includes GPS directions)
  - Coop Casearia Castelnovese - we toured here in ~2010, but they stopped doing tours in 2013; as its name suggests is a co-op run by farmers in Castelnuovo Rangone (Via Cavidole 6, just south-east of Modena, near the Modena Sud exit). They have a fun plastic cow outside the factory, and although they're a small producer you'll marvel at the rows upon rows of cheese. If you want a tour, call in advance, and show up in the morning, as they finish their cheese production around noon. 059-535-364
  - Caseificio 4 Madonne - in Lesignana, looks like a very nice place, their cheese has won some awards, runs ~1 hour tours by reservation only, see this page for more
  - Cooperative Zootecnica Bazzanese, via Moretto Scuole 7, Bazzano (Just S of A1 between Modena and Bologna) 051-831-659
  - Ca' Denina Soc. Semplice - via S. Liberata 1693, Spilamberto (SE of Modena, S of A1), www.cadenina.it, M-Sat, 9-12, 14-18:30, Sun 9-11:45, store only? 059-784-867
- Near Parma (also see the AgriParma website's list or contact the regional consortium office at 052-129-2700)
  - Consorzio Produttori Latte - Via Puppiola 15 (in Baganzolino, suburb just N of Parma/A1) - Tel. 052-160-1313
  - Latteria Sociale San Pier Damiani - Via Gazzano 35 (in San Prospero, 15 min E of central Parma), 052-164-5181, fax 052-148-8367, or 338-741-2566, info@sanpierdamiani.com, €8/person 2-hour tours in Italian or English (ideally get there at 8:30 AM to see the whole process), book ahead online, beautiful countryside location.
    - at least as of 2018, they have really good TripAdvisor ratings
  - Caseificio Tagliavini (Angelo Atagliavini) - Via Tricesimo 14 (just W of central Parma), 052-167-1206
  - Ugolotti Artemio & Figlio - Via Emilio Lepido 72 (just E of central Parma), 052-148-6769
  - Azienda Agricola Giansanti - Via Traversetolo 228 (15 min SE of Parma), 052-164-1155, info@agricolagiansanti.it, ships internationally
  - Caseificio Barani Gaudenzio e Giuseppe - Via Budellungo 139 (just SE of Parma), 052-164-5595, g.barani@libero.it
  - Caseificio Sociale Val Ceno - Ponte Vetrione 167, Varsi (1 hour SW of Parma nestled in the mountains) 052-575-0180
  - Società Agricola Butteri di Butteri Enzo, & Figli - Via Scipione Passeri, 193 (in Salsomaggiore Terme, 1 hr W of Parma), nice bucolic location, 052-457-0722, info@caseificiobutteri.it
    - Gelato in Salsomaggiore Terme: Sanelli – piazza del Popolo 2, he does liquid nitrogen gelato, fresh fruits, parmigiano, etc.
  - Società Agricola Saliceto - Via Arturo Toscanini 3 (in Mulazzano Ponte/Lesignano de'Bagni), 052-185-7193, 334-674-4249
  - Caseificio Sociale San Salvatore - Via Sanguigna 20 (or Via Volontari del Sangue 20), in Colorno (30 min N of Parma), 052-181-4240, info@caseificiosansalvatore.it
  - Agrinascente - via San Michele Campagna 22b, Fidenza (S of Fidenza exit off A1, ~30 min W of Parma), 052-452-2334, call to arrange to visit the Caseificio (cheese factory). (Big store...seems a bit commercial?)
  - Azienda Agricola Iris - Via Torchio 12 (in Rivalta, Lesignano de' Bagni, 40 min S of Parma), 052-186-3653, 348-790-8677
- Near Reggio nell'Emilia (halfway between Parma & Modena)
  - Parmegiano Reggiano Consortium - Via John Fitzgerald Kennedy 18, runs its own free, 2-hour tours starting at 8 AM. Contact them in advance to arrange. (Similar information is on the Parma website, which one blogger called "the best email I have ever received")
- Industria Casearia Pelloni Spa – via Emilia Est 194, Castelfranco Emilia, 059-957-005, 059-932-016

Red Cow (Vacche Rosse) Parmigiano - is made with special cows that produce less milk, but supposedly the cheese is more flavorful. The Red Cow Consortium has more information
- San Pietro Latteria in Valestra di Carpineti - one of the two casefici (cheese factories) that makes Red Cow Parmigiano
Bianca Modenese - the "white Modena" cow also has a consortium...there are 3 producers of cheese from this cow:
- Istituto di Istruzione Superiore "Lazzaro Spallanzani"
Valserena - only uses "vacca bruna" (brown cow or "sola bruna") milk, rec'd by Parm Project, runs a spaccio (cheese store) every day but Sunday but not clear if they run tours...?
- Zingerman's has a video about them here
Ari Weinzweig from Zingerman's Deli in Ann Arbor, Michigan started the "Parm Project", which examines the differences among the parmigiano producers
- Elizabeth Minchilli writes about this in her book "Eating My Way Through Italy"
- Zingerman's has a "Parmigiano Reggiano Club" where you get 2 different cheeses every month for 3 months
Latteria Roncadella - no website, Parm Project rec's for great flavor, one of the only female master cheesemakers (Marisa Verzelloni)
Caseificio Borgotaro - in Borgo Val di Taro (in the mountains ~1 hour SW of Parma, an area known for porcini mushrooms...actually not that far from La Spezia in Liguria), rec'd Parm Project (blogpost) and Slow Food Guida al Parmigiano Reggiano, makes mountain cheese from cows who mostly graze on pasture (as opposed to being fed in a barn), their website doesn't explicitly mention it, but it sounds like you can contact them to arrange guided tours
Azienda Agricola Biologica La Villa - in Neviano degli Arduini, Località Urzano (~45 min S of Parma), organic, uses Red Cows raised high in the mountains, rec'd Parm Project
- Caseificio Sociale di Ravarano (Delfante Damiano) - ~50 min S of Parma in the mountains, rec'd Parm Project (blogpost)

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