Starting point:
the freshest milk

The milk used to produce Grana Padano comes from the fertile lands of the Po Valley as far as the Pre-Alpine area, where our breeders produce high quality milk especially for this king of cheeses.
It takes 16 litres of milk to make one kilo of cheese.
Twice daily, once the milk has been collected from the sheds, special trucks deposit it in the floating basins or in the dairy’s floater.
After about 10 hours the partially skimmed milk is poured into heated tanks where it is mixed together with the inoculation-serum and rennet, which then start off the coagulation process...

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The personal touch which guarantees quality

A few minutes after the rennet has been added, the curd forms on the surface. Thanks to years of practice, the dairyman is able to establish the exact moment at which the curd should be broken. Using a special implement called a curd knife, he breaks the product up into countless glomerules, tiny particles the size of a grain of rice.
This is a very delicate phase: at the moment when the particles are deposited on the bottom of the heated tank, they are cooked. This is carefully monitored by the dairyman who checks that the right consistency is reached.
This method causes the glomerules to separate from the liquid that has formed, reaching the degree of compactness necessary for the next stage.
The paste is then cut into two parts so as to obtain two cheeses from each heated tank. Once removed from the boilers, these are wrapped in special cloths in which they are left to drip for a limited period of time.
The cheeses are then put in rigid plastic wraps. This is a kind of casing in which they will stay for 24 hours, the time needed to be turned and re-turned and to be marked on the surface with the brand name which will show that they are authentically Grana Padano.
Afterwards, they are placed in a cooling room where they will stay for two days in special steel wraps, to further eliminate any residue of serum.


The cheeses are then immersed in special cement, fibreglass or steel baths filled with a solution of salt water and here they will remain for 20/25 days.

Maturing:
the selection of the species

When the seasoning with salt has been completed, the cheeses are taken to the special maturing storeroom, placed on shelves and kept in a situation of controlled temperature and humidity (15-22° C and 80-90% relative humidity).

During this stage each product is rigorously selected during periodic checking and is turned and brushed according to a process specifically created by Agriform.

The first stage of maturing lasts for 8 months, the age at which the cheeses considered worthy are given the Consortium’s mark of Guarantee.
Maturing normally continues for 15-16 months, when the cheeses are ready to be sold.

A further selection is then made to choose the cheeses suitable for a prolonged maturing of 20 months and over (up to 30 months), the requirements needed to qualify for the prestigious Stravecchio Oro del Tempo denomination.

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“Stravecchio Oro del Tempo”

When these stages are completed and maturing has terminated, only the cheeses which comply with Agriform’s rigorous standards are branded with the special Qualità Consorzio Grana Padano mark. These are therefore now ready to be sold.

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A product with a unique taste, that is making its way in the world

The Grana Padana cheeses then enter Agriform’s Italian and world wide distribution network (Europe, the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan and so on).

They are transported in refrigerated trucks to a large number of sales outlets (commercial shopping centres, supermarkets, delicatessens and grocery stores) in order to arrive fresh and fragrant on your table and to guarantee you a truly unique taste, fruit of the ancient art of cheese making.