Division 5.3 Causal link between the geographical area and the quality or characteristics of the product (for a PDO) or a specific quality, the reputation or other characteristic of the product (for a PGI)

There is, at all stages in its production, a close link between ‘Soprèssa Vicentina’ and its environment.

In human terms, the product’s link with its environment is demonstrated by the fact that the area of production — known as the Vicentino — has traditionally been the home of numerous farmers and/or artisans who, by using characteristic methods for rearing pigs and processing and maturing their meat, created the ‘Soprèssa Vicentina’, a truly one-of-a-kind product whose method of preparation has remained almost unchanged over time.

Evidence of the link with the environment is to be found in the specific characteristics of the raw material, based on the products — traditional and consisting almost entirely of high-quality cereals grown locally — used for fattening the pigs.

Another link between the raw material and the local area lies in the use of whey from the cheese-making industry in the feed, which is preferably given in the form of a mash. This is a very long-standing practice, demonstrated by the fact that Vicenza province is a producer of two major PDO cheeses (Asiago and Grana Padano).

The whey is a by-product of the milk processing involved in the production of these two PDO cheeses.

This by-product is strongly marked by the properties of the milk and, in particular, by those of the process of separation of the substances that form the cheeses, logically giving rise to the elements that remain unused and thus characterise the whey.

Farms in the Vicentino use this type of whey because of the specific characteristics it imparts to the pigmeat and hence to the processed product subsequently manufactured.

The economic aspects connected with the use of whey, a feedingstuff with a very low concentration of nutritional substances owing to its very high water content, have always meant that the whey from these cheeses is used as feed on a strictly local basis, thus creating a tradition for using it in the diet of the pigs used for the production of ‘Soprèssa Vicentina’.

Evidence of the link with the environment is also to be found in the presence in Vicenza province of processors with small-scale slaughtering and processing establishments which use pigs from local farms and have continued over the years to employ traditional methods for producing ‘Soprèssa Vicentina’ which are typical of the Vicentino’s farming customs.

The stages in the maturing process are affected by the air humidity conditions, which reflect temperature changes. These conditions give rise to the first- and second-stage fermentation undergone by the sausage.

This link with the natural and human environment has created a unique product whose special characteristics have distinguished, and continue to distinguish, the ‘Soprèssa’ produced in the Vicentino from similar sausage products from other areas, as demonstrated by the historical sources.