The year 1946, on this day, January 31st, in Vidalenzo di Polesine Parmense, in a ground-floor room used as a dairy…
…this is how the notarial deed begins, which, in the early months of post-war reconstruction, marks the birth of the Latteria Sociale by twenty-six landowners and tenants from the area.

One of the first cooperative societies established after the war. A year later, due to the significant presence of members from Piacenza, the Latteria Sociale moved to the municipality of Villanova d’Arda, also changing its name to Latteria Sociale Stallone, after the locality where it is based.

Thus began the story of a company housed in a large red-brick building, just a few hundred meters from the Great Po River, in the heart of the lands of Giuseppe Verdi. From the 9,000 quintals of milk processed annually in the 1940s and 1950s, today the dairy transforms 200,000 quintals of milk per year, producing approximately 60 to 70 wheels of Grana Padano DOP per day.

“The processing of milk produced by its members and the sale of dairy products, distributing real profits among members based on the amount of milk supplied.”

– 1960s: Membership reaches 80 members, with 30,000 quintals of milk delivered.
– 1970s: Agriculture undergoes a major transformation, with a drastic reduction in the workforce, rural depopulation towards cities, and farmland either abandoned or acquired by large landowners. The number of cooperative members declines, but this is offset by an increase in milk supply, reaching 65,000 quintals, thanks to the first technological innovations.
– 1983: The Latteria Sociale begins construction of a new facility, still in operation today, focusing on research and experimentation to achieve a genuine, high-quality product: Grana Padano, recognized as a Denomination of Origin (D.O.) in – 1954 and as a Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) in 1996.
– 1991: A fire completely destroys the aging warehouse, along with 20,000 wheels of Grana Padano stored inside.

Following this incident, however, the bond between the members and the company grew stronger, reinforcing the spirit of cooperation. Thanks to their determination, the Latteria Sociale Stallone quickly recovered and today stands as one of the most important Grana Padano PDO producers in the province of Piacenza.