Practice 2
Identification of the elements of the value chain of a territory, municipality, destination
The case of the municipality of Felino, Parma Italy
Sandro Pasquali
1. GASTRONOMIC HERITAGE
Felino is a small town of about 9.000 inhabitants located in the province of Parma at the foot of hills, with
pleasant landscape alternating woods and cultivated land. The town is the traditional home of Salame di Felino,
a delicacy that in this place is a symbol of conviviality and hospitality. Felino became a municipality in 1806. 1
Historically, the town used to be occupied by Longobards and was a nodal point for pilgrim routes in the middle
Ages, which passed from here coming from the North of Europe to get to Rome. 2 The town developed around
its castle, built in 9th century. One of the cultural traces the Longobards left in this town was the system of
seasoning and storing pork meat. There have been traces of monasteries and farmers growing pigs. Felino’s
hilly landscape was at the time all covered by woods, where acorns, tubers and roots were abundant and the
perfect environment for growing pigs in the wild. 3 Once the pigs became domesticated, every farm in Felino
had one. The pig was considered a precious asset because when alive, it ate human waste and once killed, it
provided meat which could be eaten for months and also sold to other people.
The importance of pig is still visible in many abandoned farms around Felino: all
of them have dedicated areas where pigs were held (always a very little space so
they could get fatter). Carvings in the Dome of Fidenza or in Parma’s Battistero
show that farmers in this area already produced salame in the Middle Ages.
Felino’s relationship with the pig is perhaps best illustrated by the statue in
honour to the pig “monument al maiale”, by Felino’s artist Giuseppe Bonatti,
praising the pig and those who appreciate its importance (see picture). Felino’s
hilly landscape has been increasingly promoted by local authorities and
organisations through hiking and biking trails. Felino is part of the “Grande giro MTB” of the Appennino
Parmense, a biking race, with a number of trails (il Riccio, la Quercia e i Vigneti). There are a number of hiking
trails of different length and difficulty (“del Castello”, “la Costa” e “il Gallo”), the walk in the woods leading to
Felino’s castle “Del Castello” being perhaps one of the most known. Fishing lovers go to relax at man-made
“Matteo Lake”, in the hills of Felino.
2. GASTRONOMIC PRODUCTS, FOOD PRODUCERS AND INDUSTRIES
1
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felino Accessed 21/03/2021
2 Delendati Maria Chiara, “Felino: I sapori, la storia e le dolci colline” http://www.assaggiamiparma.it/images/assaggiami/sfogliabili/33/mobile/
index.html#p=3 Accessed 21/03/2021
3 Cacciani, Concetta, “Felino e il suo Salame, un legame che dura da secoli” http://www.assaggiamiparma.it/images/assaggiami/sfogliabili/33/mobile/
index.html#p=3 Accessed 21/03/2021
3
Being located in the heart of Italy’s food valley, Felino, this town is an important production centre for wine
and food production of many PGI and PDO products. The hills around Felino are covered in vineyards, famous
for a number of wines typical of the Parma area such as Malvasia (sweet white wine), Sauvignon and Red of
Colli di Parma. The world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano cheese is also produced here, together with many other
salami: the Prosciutto di Parma (Parma Ham), but also other typical local salami specialities obtained from
different parts of the pig: Coppa di Parma, Pancetta, Fiocchetto, Culaccia and Spalla cotta di Parma. The salame
di Felino is a registered PGI (protected geographical indication) product since 2013. 4 This EU recognition has
happened thanks to the activism of the “Consorzio di tutela del salame di Felino PGI”, a consortium created by
Salame di Felino producers in 2011. The goal of this consortium is to join forces to promote and valorize the
salame Felino PGI. The consortium regroups 14 producers, most of them are family-run productions (Borelli
Cesare, Cav. Umberto Boschi, La Felinese salumi, La Fenice, Fereoli Gino e figlio, Fereoli Mario e figlio, Fontana
Ermes, Giuberti Amerio, Gualerzi, Prosciuttificio San Michele, Salumi Boschi fratelli, Salumificio Ducale,
Salumificio Monpiù, Salumificio San Paolo).
3. HOSPITALITY SECTOR: CATERING AND ACCOMODATION
The hospitality sector in Felino has started developing with the recent establishment of few B&B in Felino and
its vicinities. Most of them are run by young locals who turned their family villas into Bed and Breakfasts. These
include Villa Angela, corte Finzi, Torre. The Castello di Felino also offers accommodation. Very few of them are
reachable by public transport and do not cater for low budgets. Felino has about 6 restaurants (Pane e Salame,
Osteria della stazione, Ostaria ad ‘na volta, trattoria Leoni, La fatica dell’Oste, Osteria in Mosca). Among these,
“trattoria Leoni”, in the hills, is mentioned in the Michelin guide. All these restaurants propose local and
traditional dishes, ranging from starters such as “torta
fritta” – fried bread – with salami, “tortelli” (types of
ravioli with different filling), and “tagliatelle” with
porcini mushroom or truffle sauce. A typical second
course dish is the “Rosa di Parma”, a roast stuffed with
Parma ham and cheese, normally accompanied by
roast potatoes. Another delicacy of the area is horse
meat eaten carpaccio style. The most popularly drank
wines in this area are the local red Lambrusco and the
white Malvasia.
4. SPECIALIZED TRADE
Local products in Felino can be found in the town’s shops as well as agricultural entreprises who sell their
produces on their premises (“kilometro zero”). One example is the entreprise Rusticorto, which both produces
and sells fruits and vegetables. Every Saturday morning, Felino’s main square hosts a food market with many
local produces and some other non-food products stalls. In December, once a year on December 12th the
Santa Lucia’s market takes place. On this occasion the market is extended to the whole centre of the town for a
whole day. One of the main traditions of this events is the local orchestra playing throughout the day and the
lighting of Felino’s church Christmas nativity scene accompanied by the choir and other activities by local
4
COMMISSION IMPLEMENTING REGULATION (EU) No 186/2013 of 5 March 2013, entering a name in the register of
protected designations of origin and protected geographical indications (Salame Felino (PGI))
organisations.
5. EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES TO DISSEMINATE GASTRONOMIC CULTURE
Felino and its vicinities have many traditional gastronomic events, these include:
“tortellata di San Giovanni” (tortelli feast) in June on St. Giovanni’s day, a “Notte
dal palato fino” (night of subtle palate) at the beginning of summer in Felino city
center, where different shops and restaurants in Felino have stalls in the street
for the whole night, and the “Barbiano” local fair at the end of August. These
events offer local food and are accompanied by music and dances. They are
normally organised by local associations such as PROLOCO, il Circolo La Quercia
and so on with the support of Felino’s municipality. Since 1997 Felino is twinned
with the French village of Cumières, famous for its Champagne production. As a
result, salame di Felino is also being promoted in combination with Champagne. In September 2019, the event
“Salame e bollicine”, (salami and bubbles), saw the main street of Felino filled with tables and promoted the
combination of salame and champagne.
6. SPACES FOR THE DISSEMINATION OF GASTRONOMY
Thanks to the hard labour of local associations such as “associazione Natura e Vita”, Felino’s local
administration, together with the consortium of salame producers, in 2004 a Museum of Salame was
established in what used to be the kitchens of Felino’s castle.5
7. CONCLUSION
As this paper has shown, gastronomy and salame production has been a distinctive feature of the identity of
this town since very ancient times. The level of development of gastronomy is advanced. Rooted in a long
tradition, it has been traditionally promoted by gastronomical events and more recent initiatives such as the
salami museum. Widely attended by locals, these events create a sense of community and sociality around
food locally produced. It should be noted that these events also attract people from neighbouring villages and
Parma. As this essay has illustrated, the gastronomy value chain is very well developed at the local level, also
thanks to the cooperation between local producers, local organisations and the Felino municipality. What this
paper also shows is that gastronomic tourism in Felino is mostly about people coming from nearby villages and
towns rather than international or even national tourists. It is very telling that the hospitality choice in Felino
and surrounding areas is still quite small. In the future, a lot more can be done to develop Felino as a
gastronomic tourism destination across Italy and in the world.
5
Cacciani, Concetta, “Felino e il suo Salame, un legame che dura da secoli” http://www.assaggiamiparma.it/images/assaggiami/sfogliabili/33/mobile/
index.html#p=3 Accessed 21/03/2021
Feedback:
very well identified the elements of the value chain and their relationships.
The incorporation of the sources/references from which you have obtained the information is highly valued
Being a small city it has no "training". It could have been indicated if a course related to gastronomy is offered
at the local or provincial level
Rating: 10 out of 10
