The protection

The Consortium

Established on 2 July 1996 by 26 of Sardinia’s dairy companies, the Consortium is, by Ministerial Decree, the Representative Body for Pecorino Sardo PDO, and in 2002, it was officially vested with the role of protecting, promoting and developing the PDO status, as well as with guarding against any abuse, fraud or counterfeiting of the product. This ministerial mandate has, without fail, been renewed every three years.

Since 2 August 2007, the Consortium has been based in Villa Muscas, a historic villa in Cagliari that houses one of the most iconic and interesting Museums detailing the Peasant Culture in Sardinia.
Events aimed at developing and promoting the local territory and everything it has to offer, including food and wine reviews and guided tastings, are often held in this prestigious location.

For more than 20 years, the Consortium has been overseeing the quality and marketing of Pecorino Sardo PDO in Italy and throughout the world, and its work, which is largely aimed at ensuring it achieves its statutory objectives, has enabled the product to gain a major foothold in the Italian market, to the extent that it is now unanimously considered the symbol and emblem of its Area of Origin: Sardinia.

The Italian Ministry for Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies
has entrusted the following important tasks to the Consortium for the Protection of Pecorino Sardo Cheese:

  • ownership of Pecorino Sardo PDO’s identifying trademark and granting its use to entitled parties;
  • protection of the PDO status through the activities of supervisory bodies;
  •  controlling the use of the Pecorino Sardo denomination within the Italian, European and international markets for the purpose of preventing any misuse, fraud, counterfeiting or unfair competition; 
  • facilitation of any initiatives useful for safeguarding the traditional and unique nature of the protected product and to increase awareness of the PDO status across all markets via appropriate marketing activities.

Safeguarding the general interests of the PDO product including through:

    • consultation with the Public Administrative Body;
    • consultation with the Public Administrative Body;
    • proposing amendments to the product specification;
    • quality and organisational improvement programmes;
    • collaborative activities with the European Union, the Italian Government, the Regional Authorities and other public and private entities aimed at developing and protecting the product;
    • advertising and promotional initiatives to increase the awareness and consumption of Pecorino Sardo PDO.

The Governing Board

The Consortium is governed by a Board currently composed of 9 members who serve 3-year terms and are eligible for re-election.

The Board appointed on 22 June 2021 is composed of:

Antonello Argiolas

President

Pietro Piras

Board member

Pierluigi Pinna

Board member

Giovanni Murru

Board member

Antonio Giuseppe Mura

Board member

Giuseppe Serra

Board member

Antonio Maria Sedda

Board member

Massimiliano Meloni

Board member

Piergiorgio Villecco

Board member

Dott.ssa Annalisa Uccella

Director