Discover the Bella Lodi brand: here's our interview.

In the heart of the Lombard Po Valley, in Lodi, the story of Caseificio Pozzali Lodigrana, famous also for their flagship product Bella Lodi.
It is here that in 1947 three young brothers decided to embark on a venture in the dairy sector and transformed themselves into entrepreneurs.

Their family has always been connected to agriculture and the territory, and they decided to carry on this bond in their own way. Initially, the brothers structured their first dairy within the family agricultural company, and it is here that they began to process the milk, produced by them and from some nearby farms. The dairy was immediately a great success.

About ten years later, in 1958, the second-born Giovanni Pozzali inaugurated the new dairy in Casaletto Ceredano, in the province of Cremona, just a few kilometers from Lodi.
In the '90s, the company, which had meanwhile become Lodigrana, grew and diversified, gaining increasing experience and importance. In fact, the dairy perfected its food technology, which allowed it to obtain guarantees of quality and hygiene.

Lodigrana grew until the launch of the dairy specialty that translates this family history into flavor: the Bella Lodi, a sincere tribute to the millenary past of the Lodi land. After innovations and expansions, the plant excels in the Italian dairy sector also thanks to the production of lactose-free cheeses.

The key element that distinguishes the Caseificio is indeed tradition. One of the most typical and traditional products of this company is precisely the Bella Lodi and among the products is the Raspadura Bella Lodi, which reintroduces the ancient technique of "raspa", a way of serving cheese presenting it as thin slices, scraped with a particular long knife.

We like these realities, these producers of unique, certified, and award-winning delicacies: they are real treasures embedded in our Peninsula between seas and mountains and in the most remote streets of villages and countryside. We do not just stop to live their products, but we want to discover more closely the protagonists of this brand. That’s why we sent some questions to those who manage communication with us.

Stay with us to know Lodigrana Bella Lodi: read the answers!

Who are we speaking with?
I am Marco Montemezzani, Marketing Manager.
Is the company family-run? For how many generations and from what year exactly?
Yes, for 3 generations, exactly since 1947.
Who was the founder and what was his training or what was the work and professional branch from which he came if different from the current one?
Our story begins in Lodi in 1947, the year in which three young brothers who will shortly graduate in Milan decide to transform themselves into entrepreneurs in the dairy sector. Within the family agricultural company, they structured their first dairy to process the milk of their production and from some nearby farms.
In 1958 the second-born, architect Giovanni Pozzali, inaugurated the new dairy just a few kilometers from Lodi, in Casaletto Ceredano (CR).
What is the real reason or triggering fact behind the birth of this company and when did it happen?
In the '90s, the company, now become Pozzali Lodigrana, grew and diversified until reaching the launch of the dairy specialty that translates this family story into flavor: Bella Lodi, a sincere tribute to the millenary past of the Lodi land.
What is your relationship with the land of origin and its typicality? And why do you want to tell it through your products?
The Granone Lodigiano is considered the progenitor of all "grana" cheeses.
It was famous for having a black rind like the shapes on which the Madonna of the Sanctuary of our country sits, which is about 1 km from the Abbey of Cerreto where the monks began these productions; it is natural that we have continued the tradition of a dairy specialty that is now recognized as a PAT (Traditional Agri-food Product), one of the jewels of Italian gastronomic tradition.
What was the first product you created?
The Bella Lodi Classico black rind.
What product do you now consider your "flagship"?
The Raspadura Bella Lodi is another typical product of the tradition and has no equal, made completely by hand.
What product has most carried with it the beating heart, philosophy, and soul of the company itself throughout its history?
Always the Bella Lodi Classico black rind.
Speaking of today: how much has the company grown since its inception? Can we have some numbers?
It has not “grown”, its first objective has always been quality, which is why production is limited and follows rigid rules and principles: km zero milk, natural cream rising, selection of lactic ferments for a unique taste, manual processing, copper boilers, pure linen cloths; production and aging are calibrated based on a constant, weekly, sensory analysis of a tasting group.
At this moment: more tradition or more innovation?
50% and 50%: tradition, as I said above, is the dogma, while innovation has allowed us to certify the natural absence of lactose and to certify the supply chain.
What has been the most important evolution of the company to make it what it is today?
Pursuing and maintaining its unchanged productive quality.
Talking instead about the future: what tomorrow awaits the company? Is there any change or new evolutionary process planned?
We have recently adopted the use of 100% recyclable and 100% compostable packaging.
Are you planning to create new products?
Only if they are consistent with our philosophy linked to maximum quality and connected to our tradition.
Having focused on Spaghetti & Mandolino, how important is online sales for you, what has your relationship been in the past with this sales channel and how do you see it in the future?
It is an opportunity and will always be more so for family and artisan companies and for consumers who in some cases might never know and purchase some poorly distributed products but often of the highest quality. In the past we have seen our product sold online by some of our customers, but never directly by us, we are producers, not distributors.
Value: what has it been, what is it today, and what will it be in the future for your company?
Quality, tradition, sustainability.