Five women are changing the future of Bitto and Valtellina Casera Innovation, sustainability and female leadership can also start from the mountains

For years, the mountain has been described as a place to leave. Today, however, there is a generation of women who have chosen to stay and build their future in one of the most identifying supply chains of Made in Italy: that of PDO Bitto and Valtellina Casera cheeses. From pastures to dairies, from quality laboratories to protection associations, these professionals are redefining a sector that is still often perceived as male. They do so without renouncing tradition, but interpreting it through sustainability, innovation, research and new forms of leadership.

Staying in the mountains as a choice

For Cristina Gusmeroli, casara del Bitto and awarded at the Mostra del Bitto 2024, the mountain has never been a place to start. “For me, the mountains have always been a place to stay and build my future, because here I have a deep emotional bond. I do not deny that today it is complicated, especially because of the amount of bureaucracy that is required of us and because of the objective difficulties that this work involves. I fully understand why it is difficult for many to imagine a life like this, between pastures without roads and a physical effort that not everyone is willing to endure. But for me all this is not a limit: it is an integral part of what makes my work and my connection with this territory authentic.” His experience tells of a generation that sees tradition not as an immovable legacy, but as a space to evolve.

Beyond stereotypes

Cristina recalls that, when she said she wanted to continue the family business as a child, the answer was almost always the same. “They told me that, at most, I would find someone with a company and help out there. It was taken for granted that my brothers would continue the business. [...] What I want is to be evaluated for my qualities as a person, not for my gender.” A conviction also shared by Viola Vanini, head of La Fiorida. “For me it means taking responsibility for safeguarding an extraordinary heritage and, at the same time, having the courage to make it evolve. [...] Being a woman on this path does not mean doing things 'differently, 'but bringing sensitivity, vision and natural attention to relationships.”

Innovate without betraying tradition

The world of PDO cheeses is often associated exclusively with tradition. For Erica Cossi, quality manager at the Pedranzini Cheese Factory in Bormio, innovation today means valuing it with new tools. “Tradition tells us what to do, innovation allows us to do it better, cleaner and closer to people.” Digital traceability, environmental sustainability, research on enzymes and dialogue with consumers are now an integral part of a supply chain that continues to evolve without changing the identity of its products.

A work that follows the rhythms of nature

Then there is an aspect that, according to Selene Erini, a technician at the Consortium for the Protection of Valtellina Casera and Bitto Cheeses, those who live in the city struggle to understand. “I think the most difficult aspect for those who live in cities to understand is that in our work we don't dictate the times. [...] This means being elastic, reprogramming, adapting.” It is a profession in which climate, animals and territory continue to determine the rhythm of the days, requiring flexibility and constant presence.

A New Idea of Leadership

For Marta Donadoni, production manager at Delebio's Latteria Sociale Valtellina, mountains teach above all the value of people. “Every job here has the same value. Even the activity that seems tiny or repetitive is, in reality, an indispensable piece for everything else to stand up.” And this is the principle that also guides his way of working: “Goals can only be achieved if we really trust and respect each other.”

The future of Bitto also passes through women

For Viola Vanini, the future of Bitto and Valtellina Casera must be increasingly linked to the ability to enhance the territory without renouncing innovation. “I hope that more and more young people will choose to work in these supply chains and that women will be protagonists at all levels: in pastures, on farms, in dairies, in consortia and in decision-making roles.” Their stories show how the contemporary mountain is not only a place of tradition, but a space where skills, innovation and new leadership are redesigning the future of some of the most representative excellences of Made in Italy.