What is the history of the Caseificio Manciano cooperative?

The Caseificio Sociale Manciano was founded in 1961, when 21 breeders from the region joined together to better promote the sheep's milk produced in the hinterland of the province of Grosseto. The idea was to turn local milk into cheese within a cooperative owned by the producers, in a region where sheep farming had supported families for a long time. It is therefore not an old institution, but a 20th-century initiative rooted in a much older pastoral tradition.

The first workshop was located in the village of Manciano. In 1986, production moved to Piano di Cirignano, in the countryside, to have more space for making and aging. The cooperative then supported the recognition of the Pecorino Toscano DOP : it joined the protection consortium in 1985, then obtained in 1996 the recognition to produce this cheese under the appellation. Today, the pecorino is still at the heart of its activity, alongside other cheeses and ricotta.