The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium has created a casein-based cheese brand with a silicon microchip to assist ensure the authenticity of manufacturers’ goods. Parmigiano Reggiano is known as the “king of cheeses” in Italy and is sold all over the world. In 2020, a projected 3.94 million wheels of the PDO product will be produced, equal to roughly 6,000 tonnes. This translates to roughly €2.35 billion in annual revenue.
However, not every cheese that purports to be Parmigiano Reggiano is. The global turnover of counterfeit parmesan is believed to be over $2 billion, according to the Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese Consortium. To combat counterfeiting, the consortium, which promotes real Parmigiano Reggiano, has collaborated with p-Chip Corporation and Kaasmerk Matec on a digital label that improves authenticity and traceability.
Nicola Bertinelli, consortium president, said, “We are happy to be the first [PDO] consortia to deliver these digital and safe labels to ensure an even more protected and tracked product.”
Beyond certification
The agreement is based on technology produced by p-Chip Corporation, a firm based in the United States that has developed a trackable silicon microchip the size of a grain of salt.
The serialised tracker, according to p-Chip, functions as a “digital anchor” for physical objects and is “nearly difficult” to replicate or counterfeit. Extreme temperatures, strong g-forces, and solvents and chemicals are no match for p-Chip micro-transponders.
Kaasmerk Matec, a Dutch firm, will contribute a ‘cheese mark’ to the cooperation, which is made up of casein, glycerol, and alcohol. The mark, which is applied to the cheese at the start of the production process, guarantees the provenance of the cheese for both producers and customers.
The Kaasmerk casein mark, which includes an alphanumeric code and a QR code, was initially adopted in 2002 to ensure that the cheese’s origin could be identified anywhere in the globe. This system is now being taken to a ‘next level.’
An integrated strategy
By incorporating the p-Chip device into the casein cheese mark, Kaasmerk and p-Chip have united their technology.
“We’re thrilled to be working with a world-class brand like Parmigiano Reggiano to offer new and world-class monitoring technology to the food sector,” said Joe Wagner, CEO of p-Chip Corporation.
“The Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium can better control its inventory, protect and differentiate its products from similar brands, and have access to unparalleled track-and-trace technology to protect itself in the event of recalls or other problems by integrating p-Chip micro transponders into casein labels.”
Over the last two years, the collaboration has done “extensive” tests on the p-Chip/Kaasmerk label. In the second quarter of 2022, it will be applied to 100,000 Parmigiano Reggiano wheels.
This is the penultimate stage of large-scale ‘testing’ before determining if the technique can be used to the full production of Parmigiano Reggiano.