The Modernization of the Dairy Industry in Italy in the Late Nineteenth Century. Social Dairies

The paper analyzes the birth and consolidation of dairy cooperatives in Italy between the nineteenth and twentieth century. Since the seventies of the nineteenth century the Italian government began to encourage the creation of cooperatives and associations of dairy farmers in order to promote the industrial production of cheese and butter. Italy had to learn the technique of milk in order to compete against other countries such as France and Switzerland which attached great importance to exporting cheese. Particularly, the phenomenon of dairy cooperatives formation involved the Alpine areas where social and religious factors stimulated the birth of cooperatives. At the same time other associative models, more business oriented, were created in Lombardy and Emilia plains. So there is a dualism between the managment system of mountain areas, based on traditional techiques, and the plain areas, exposed to the international trade and competition. However, the dairies cooperative played a prominent role in the modernization of the Italian dairy sector.