Calabrialleva was created from the legacy built over time and on the territory by Apocc, a cooperative society of sheep and goat breeders from Calabria. It is based on mandatory principles of respect, enhancement and sharing. Attention is paid first of all to local producers, the real protagonists of this small great revolution, who can so proudly continue a working tradition passed on from generation to generation. All this allows us to offer safe and protected product, with a high level of food quality, to be customer friendly.
This Participatory Guarantee System is an innovative means for the enhancement of products in the short supply chain. It basically means going back to have more strength and voice in the matter. But there's more.
A structured local production contributes to safeguarding the environment, culture and identity of hese places….
Apocc was founded in 1984, afterwards recognized by the decree of the President of the Calabria Region No.658 of May 1988, with the aim of protecting the rights of Calabrian breeders.
Initially there were 150 member
companies with a production locations of sheep and goat farms in the plains and hills. For a total of about 120,000 sheep and 25 ,000 goats. It became a cooperative society Caprini Sheep Producers of Calabria in 2005.
The story begins to get interesting when the cooperative decides to form a social dairy. This meant being in control of the entire production chain.
A goal that allows us to achieve an even more exclusive European goal, the protected designation of origin of Pecorino Crotonese, which becomes PDO.
The Apocc has as it primary objective the appreciation and promotion of the typical cheeses of Crotonese to make known the history, traditions and culture of this territory.
Furthermore, it provides consulting services to the various activities as well as assistance in the marketing of meat and milk. The traceability system comprehensively traces the entire supply chain that
starts from the single farm member of the dairy, passing through the transport system to the plant and ending with the marketing of the finished product.
All traceable by barcode.
Together we are stronger
We are the cooperative
where our products are born
The CROTONESE Marquisate is a unique place, with its hills, its proximity to the woods of Sila, and the Ionian sea, with its a thousand years history. Here the fluctuations of population different in culture and traditions were intermingled, very strong commercial and social ties were established. The transhumance of cattle has represented life for many of these people ,and even today breeding and grazing represent a deep culture of this territory, an important part of its identity. These places rich in tree species and with favorable climate offer today and offered then so much abundance for cattle that repaid by giving the milk that produced a delicious pecorino cheese highly appreciated by bishops and(the)Bourbons. The dividing line between these two worlds indispensable to each other was the fair of Mulerà where most of the trade took place in harmony.
The Pecorino Crotonese DOP
You recognize it by its brand imprinted on the cheese, the brand of the Crotonese pecorino DOP Protection Consortium and the veins left by the basket on the rind. Like the lines on the palm of the hand, these imprinted signs tell the story and tradition of this cheese which is still made today following an ancient and slow procedure. A hard, semi-cooked cheese, produced exclusively with whole sheep's milk. Its testimonies are very ancient, already prior to the Middle Ages. There are documents proving the export dating back to the 16th century. During the Austrian Viceroyalty between 1707 and 1734 there was a massive export. Its long history, its goodness combined with its nutritional characteristics have made it one of the pecorinos imitated far and wide.
To make good cheese
Above all, you need good milk and to have milk with an incomparable taste you need vigorous sheep that can graze freely and eat the native tree species. For this reason, our livestock is mainly fed on pasture with green fodder and occasionally with non-fermented farm hays grown in the same area. We know that wild microflora greatly influences the final organoleptic characteristics of pecorino. Ryegrass, clover, chicory, sulla, alfalfa make its taste strong and delicate… spectacular
An art that cannot be improvised
Transforming milk into pecorino cheese is a magic that cannot be explained, an art that cannot be improvised .You need a great passion, you have to be born in these places, to have lived there, you have to know all the secrets, of milk, of,aromas, passed on for generations, knowing how to measure out the slow and repetitive gestures of know-how. It is necessary to have a pure heart and temperament for the transformation to take place as it has been handed down since over time.
shipments 2.90€ throughout Italy
Lo shop è attivo da Novembre a Maggio
CHEESE BOX Choose it Here!
Le nostre forme sono realizzate a mano, come una volta
Want more flavor? you can compose your BOX as you wish
Choose your Cheese Box if you want a whole wheel of pecorino or try different cheeses with the Cheese BiBox, or the Cheese Poker Box if you like the combination of flavors. And all this with the lowest shipping cost on the web € 2,90 it will be like buying it directly in the shop, but it will arrive directly to your home. Find out all the info. Find out all the info
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