It has been more then eight months since I sent an email to the Consorzio del Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP¹, without receiving any reply. However, my request was very simple. “What is the origin of the raw material transformed, in percentage terms, from the three regions authorized by the regulations, which are Marche, Emilia-Romagna, and Lombardia?”

The Consorzio aims to “protect and safeguard the characteristics and authenticity of the Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP², preserving the centuries-old tradition of a unique product”, as explained in their website presentation. However, while it is true that “the history of Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP originated within the Natural Park of Sasso Simone and Simoncello, amid the green hills of Montefeltro”, it is also true that very few pigs are raised in the entire Marche region. In 2024, for instance, when the production of DOP Prosciutto reached 888 tons, just over 25 thousand pigs were slaughtered throughout the region (25,892, to be precise), a mere 0.26% of the almost ten million pigs slaughtered in Italy (9,970,778) according to data from the Sistema Informativo Veterinario (Veterinary Information System , the Italian national database that monitors livestock and animal health). Emilia-Romagna and Lombardia, the other two regions allowed by the regulations, together slaughter close to 7 million pigs, constituting 70% of the national production.

After writing the email, I also had a phone conversation with the press office, but to no avail. Another question remained unanswered: “What is the evolution in the production of Prosciutto di Carpegna DOP, according to the data from the Consorzio?” The hypothesis behind these inquiries is, of course, that if the brand is growing (as seemingly confirmed by the press releases of the Consorzio, citing an increase of more than 30% in 2022 compared to 2021 and a slightly lower increase in 2024 compared to 2023), it is likely that the hams transformed in Carpegna are coming from intensive pig farming in the Pianura Padana³.