We recently connected with Giovanni Guffanti Fiori and have shared our conversation below.
Giovanni, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Quality control is a challenge almost every entrepreneur has had to focus on when growing – any advice, stories or insight around how to best ensure quality is maintained as your business scales?
The ‘quality’ of the product is today the only true distinguishing feature for a company in the global market and the only way to create value (for the company and the product). In our case, it is essential to work closely with producers in order to have concrete arguments to present to the market regarding the value of the product we select and refine. This allows us to highlight a specificity of our product that is not just a result of marketing, but, having concrete objective elements to leverage for the product, represents the substance of the intrinsic qualities of the product we offer.
Giovanni, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
Since 1876
Cheeses are our passion and our trade since 1876: we select them, we age them, we refine them,we prepare them for export across the globe. A passion and a trade since 1876, dedicated to those who appreciate unique flavours.
Cheeses as dictated by Tradition
The year was 1876: Italy had only recently been unified, and in Arona, on the shores of Lago Maggiore, Luigi Guffanti was starting up his business as a refiner of different varieties of cheese.
Back in the nineteenth century special underground caves were required for this purpose, and so Luigi bought one, an old disused mine in Valganna, at the foot of the Alps. And thus began a long family history, one that continues today. In 1925 Luigi Guffanti was succeeded by his sons, Carlo and Mario; in 1970 it was the turn of Giovanni Fiori, Carlo’s son-in-law. Since then several generations of the Fiori family have been at the helm of the Company: first Carlo and Luisa, Giovanni’s children, and now Giovanni Guffanti Fiori, Carlo Fiori’s son. The name “Luigi Guffanti” therefore represents a time-honoured art in the selection, aging and refining of cheeses.
The Company Today
Today at “Luigi Guffanti” we still selects the cheeses from the same production sites as we did back in 1876. These cheeses are then aged and refined in our own cellars, and, once fully matured, are delivered to gourmets. An established presence both in Italy and Europe, and in the influential markets of America, Asia and Oceania, “Luigi Guffanti” regularly attends the top trade fairs and national and international events in the sector, supplying the cheese trolleys of prestigious restaurants, discerning distributors and the delicatessen counters of food stores which offer specialty cheeses of the highest tradition.
Awards and invitations pour in from Italy and abroad, making the presence of “Luigi Guffanti” mandatory wherever cheese is revered.
Unique flavours
Careful selection, optimal aging, unhurried refining: this is the recipe for uniqueness in a “Luigi Guffanti” cheese
Careful selection
Now, as back in 1876 the experts at “Luigi Guffanti” go directly to production sites throughout Italy and to the most highly renowned areas of Europe to select cheeses, preferably made with raw milk directly at the milking sites. In summer selection processes also take place up in the high pastures, where shepherds take their herds and produce cheeses in close contact with nature, according to the most established ancient traditions.
Optimal aging
In Guffanti tradition the initial aging is carried out by the cheesemakers themselves on the site of production, and then followed by a lengthy refining period inside our caves and cellars .Here too, the techniques and methods we use date back to 1876, although the facilities have since been modernized and refurbished. The new refining caves we use could not be more natural. Built underground, they offer perfect temperature and humidity conditions, and are protected by their own unique environment. Both the caves up in the mountains, adjacent to the production sites, and the ones in the lowlands are strongly influenced by the geology of their location by the shores of Lago Maggiore.
Optimal refining is provided both by the existing microclimate which preserves the “character” acquired by the caves over the decades, as well as by the “Luigi Guffanti” experts whose care of the cheeses is based on their experience and knowledge of these environments.
Dedicated refining
“Refining” at “Luigi Guffanti” entails adopting different care methods according to cheese type, so as to bring out the original specific characteristics of each type.
The cheeses inside the refining caves require continuous care: the wheels are regularly turned, brushed and rubbed down with water-oil-salt mixtures that keep their rinds supple. Depending on their stage of aging, cheeses may also be moved to cooler, damper areas of the caves,
The materials and instruments used during the refining process could not be more traditional: brushes for the rinds, hammers, needles and irons for testing texture and ripeness, and all sorts of shelves on which the rounds can “rest”. Refining is a process that cannot be hurried. We at “Luigi Guffanti” know when a cheese is ready, so we wait until that time when the cheese is at its very best.
Our caves
The cheeses aged and refined by “Luigi Guffanti” are housed in two caves in the northern Piedmont region, one in the plain and the other up in the mountains: the differences in these natural environments provide yet another characteristic in the cheeses that are aged there.The Arona cave on Lago Maggiore was carefully refurbished in 2005 to restore it to its original nineteenth-century state. In Oira, a tiny mountain hamlet at the heart of Ossola, the cave that dates back to the seventeenth century. Refurbished in 2004, it is part of a building complex which includes a rotational dairy for the production of the Toma cheeses of Ossola, and is run co-jointly with the Latteria Sociale Antigoriana (Antigoriana Dairy Company).
Our cheeses
Fresh; medium-aged; long-aged; blue; from around the world: the wide variety of “Luigi Guffanti” cheeses.
Fresh cheeses
A fanfare of flavours and fragrances evoking the flavour of fresh cow’s milk
Medium-aged cheeses
A subtle balance of fragrance, texture and flavours enhanced by the passage of time.
Long-aged cheeses
Rich, aromatic notes, a mature texture and unique flavours: the precious results of a long journey undertaken below ground.
Blue cheeses
The pungent taste of fine moulds blends perfectly with the flavour of the cheese.
From around the world
Authentic specialities from the many different cheese-making traditions of the world.
Prepared for You
After their selection, aging and refining processes, we at “Luigi Guffanti” prepare the cheeses so that they reach the end consumer in prime condition.
The cheeses are carefully selected, then cut if necessary into sizeable pieces and packaged to perfection, sometimes inside little wooden boxes available in a range of sizes. This is how the cheeses are delivered, ready for presentation on restaurant cheese trolleys or for display in sales counters.
And for those important occasions where exceptional flavour is required, we at”Luigi Guffanti” also offer a comprehensive catering service providing individual cheese portions, which may be served with special preserves, fruit and vegetable conserves, honey, wine, beer and bread.
Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?
Historical cheese “Growers”
When great-grandfather Luigi Guffanti, in 1876, began to season Gorgonzola cheese, his brilliant intuition was to purchase an abandoned silver mine in Valganna, in the Varese province.
In the mine, with its temperature and humidity constant year-round, the cheese matured so well that Luigi quickly cornered the markets: his sons, Carlo and Mario, at the beginning of the 1900′s, exported as far as Argentina and California, lands of Piedmont and Lombard emigration.
Maximum attention to the handcrafted quality of the cheeses and passionate care taken in the refinement process mark the proud Guffanti Fiori family tradition handed, down for five generations.
Experience gained by processing the Gorgonzola has gradually been transferred to the Tomas of the Ossola Alpine pastures, the Reggiano Parmesan, all the cheeses, Italian, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese…
At the origin of it all, an old abandoned silver mine, that at a certain point, began to produce another precious good, one derived from milk.
Guffanti Fiori Family
Carlo Guffanti Fiori and his sons Giovanni and Davide are responsible for the overall business management and delicate process of search and selection of cheeses.
In this position dealing with all aspects of corporate life by harnessing the considerable wealth of knowledge and expertise developed over the years.
The company thus becomes, gradually, the reference point of conscious consumers in search of the typical in the world of artisanal cheeses, in an area that embraces today increasingly vastItaly, part of Europe and non-European realities (USA, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia and New Zealand, but more recently India and UAE). It can be said that a company like Guffanti is today, on the stage of Italian as a small but fierce ambassador of our traditions and specificity of our craft.
This result is mainly attributable to the witness that is daily yield in terms of enthusiasm and attachment to the world of small production even beyond the simple economic self-interest.
This “passion” is the real weapon of marketing Guffanti in a world of tense to the large numbers and to the competitiveness exasperated even to the detriment of the characteristics of the products. It is for these reasons that Carlo and Giovanni Guffanti Fiori are often called upon to give their testimony in radio and television programs aired on national networks or in articles and surveys in the national press, specialist or not, or to hold seminars on the cheese in environments great professional qualification (for example, turned to foreign chefs who come to learn in Italian), or even becomes recipient of awards from those who celebrated the world’s traditions.
In this regard, it must be said that, at the end of 1999, Carlo Fiori was called to be part of the prestigious “CONFRERIE des Chevaliers du TASTE FROMAGE DEFRANCE”, by acquiring later (2002) the degree of Grand Officer. Also in 2002, was quoted in “DICTIONNAIRE DES FROMAGES FRANçAIS” of the legendary Pierre Androuet as a point of reference forItalywith regard to the field of cheese refiners.
In addition to making an active part ONAF (National Organization of cheese tasters “) and dell’ANFOSC (” National Association of cheeses under heaven “), it is also too” little face RADIANT “as part of the artisans of taste selected by wine journalist Paul Massobrio, as it is often quoted in publications, books, newspapers, magazines by those who divulges the world of dairy products of high specificity.
Carlo Fiori Guffanti is also member of the “Guilde Internationale de Fromagers” and of the “Confraternita di San Lucio” (Italy). He is often called to judge at various cheese contests in the world.
It was also (1999) inspiring / consultant of the publication “ITALIAN CHEESE” (Eos Publishing), the first true photographic repertoire, as well as technical, the entire panorama of Italian cheese.
A new version of this book has been released in 2016, in occasion of 140th anniversary of “Luigi Guffanti”.
In 2000, Carlo and Giovanni Fiori Guffanti have made an album educational (in Italian and in English) “The history of cheese” (coloring).
In 2004, Giovanni Fiori was Guffanti author, with Carlo Vischi, the photographic book “Italian cheese”, published by Gribaudo.
Since 2004, Carlo Fiori holds a book on “CASEUS”, the main Italian magazine dedicated to the world of traditional cheeses. In 2007 he appeared, only “fromager” Italian in the film-television documentary “Ce fromages qu’on assassine” by Joel Santoni and Jean-Carles Deniau, which premiered inParis December 5, 2007 and aired on France3 December 26, 2007.
In 2010, Giovanni oversaw Guffanti Fiori, always Gribaudo, the volume “Cheeses of Europe.”
Any fun sales or marketing stories?
Our shop
We are in Arona, in a very central position respect to the communication lines in North of Italy: 60 km from Milan, 120 km from Turin, 20 km from Malpensa International Airport.
In addition to visiting (preferably by appointment) our aging cellars you can buy our cheese in the shop for overtime.
Shop hours:
Monday to Friday 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. (Wednesday morning closed). Saturday 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Address: Via Milano, 140 – 28041 Arona NO
Our cheese ageing caves:
A good cheese “farmer” is brought to light an extraordinary range of his knowledge of people, places, animals, for his theoretical competence and skill, but also the availability of another equally important requirement: the suitable environments. In a garage in the center of Milan, or in a cold room, even the most brilliant of refiners can achieve a high profile.
A good environment is not only ideal humidity and temperature (for a cell that could also be enough, perhaps controlled by a sophisticated computer). The added value of a maturing room is its history, from the sedimentation of years, it would be better, for centuries, creating a perfect microclimate parameters that the result of bacterial selection, resulting from the use of materials and practices ” Rhone “environments and establish an atmosphere unique, with the imprint of the cheese will travel regularly. These conditions can be found already in existence or may be “imported” as a result of loving care.
The ancient caves of seasoning Guffanti Arona, in use from the nineteenth to 1990, were obtained in a fifteenth-century bastion walls of the city, where the military needs of the time led to dig a maze of tunnels and galleries, then transformed, after ‘demolition of the walls at the time of Napoleon, from dairy to use … great-grandfather Louis.
Logistics requirements and new regulations forced to abandon the excellent health caves, to carry all the activities in a complex, always located in Arona, that during the twentieth century had hosted a sausage factory, and was therefore equipped with extensive underground chambers for curing. On these new caves, which have been proven excellent in terms of climatic conditions, was performed a careful restoration and recovery, environment by environment, which has revealed many surprises.
Cleansed from their plaster walls are in fact emerged modern stone structures, recesses and doors bricked that show a long history of readjustments and changes undergone by these underground rooms. Recovering the memory of these interventions is difficult as we have said the war between the target and the eighties was the seasoning for meats, but perhaps earlier use was different. Whatever the use, provided plenty of water, because on one wall showed a well, walled and filled with river stones, which evidently served in the days when the water was yet to come. Behind a scale but has found the wall of what is probably an old cistern: this is one area where exploration has been postponed to a future, but allowed to vent in the basement of a continuous streak ‘ water.
In any case, it is very fortunate to have Guffanti for these environments so markedly devoted to curing. How to find the aroma of the cheese in a pasture that fed the animal, the imprint of the territory, the “mark” the skill of the cheesemaker, so you should be able to feel the history and characteristics of the environment where it was refined. The soil, stones and bricks, the microclimate, microfauna: Each winery has its true unmistakable stamp, and the cellar of Arona him. The location has its own importance, plain, hill or mountain, or even close to the sea, involving many changes, maybe small but not insignificant. The “caves” of Arona Guffanti, for example, can be found in the plain, a short distance from the shore of Lake Maggiore and near a large river that flows into the lake from the hills.
In summary: the environment is more than ideal for Guffanti ensure the use of a powerful tool for ‘”herd” of their cheeses, which become able, with their strong personalities, so many things to tell to those who knows how to listen.
Caves and tastings
Caves visit and tastings
At our bistro area (cheeseBar ) you can have a snack, a tasting, you coan enjoy a bite of cheese (from Cantine Guffanti) and meats (our selection ). You can try our cheese (from our caves) and drink a glass of wine .
Cheese, bread , wine and a good company…what could be better ?
Luigi Guffanti’s hospitality
Are you planning a special anniversary, inauguration, refreshments, meetings? Instead of resorting to the usual pizza and puff you want to impress with something different, that will be remembered by your guests?
Guffanti arrange for all these occasions a catering service based on high quality cheeses, freshly prepared in small portions, and eventually matched withmustards, canned fruits and vegetables, honey, wineand beer… A wide range of choice, which can rangefrom fresh cheeses to those iperstagionati, and modeof presentation for all tastes and needs.
It is also possible to book tastings or special events in our dedicated rooms.
Our Hospitality service will surprise you!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://guffantiformaggi.com/en/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/guffanti1876/?hl=it
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GuffantiFormaggi
- Linkedin: Luigi Guffanti 1876
- Twitter: https://x.com/LuigiGuffanti
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@luigiguffanti4950
