The Milan Court of Appeal has ruled in favor of the Asiago Cheese Consortium in the proceedings brought against Giuseppe Citterio Salumificio SpA and Euro Foods Inc., the group’s US company. In a judgment dated September 25, 2026, the court found the packaging and marketing materials for a product called “Sopressata & Asiago Cheese” under the Citterio brand, marketed and advertised in the United States by Euro Foods Inc., with the involvement of Giuseppe Citterio Salumificio SpA, to be misleading (citing the so-called “Italian Sounding” problem) due to the non-Italian origin of the cheese.

Fully reversing the judgment of the Milan Court of May 15, 2023, which had declined jurisdiction without ruling on the merits, the Milan Court of Appeals has decided to protect the Asiago PDO in the United States through the application of that country’s law regarding misleading advertising. It has therefore enjoined Giuseppe Citterio Salumificio SpA and Euro Foods Inc. from producing, distributing, importing, exporting, marketing, offering for sale, and/or advertising the product “Sopressata & Asiago Cheese”, particularly with its associated packaging and advertising materials, where they refer to the product’s Italian origin and/or manufacturing or to the existence of specific organoleptic qualities specific to Asiago PDO cheese. It also ordered the payment of damages. 

Asiago is now the fourth largest Italian cow’s milk PDO cheese in terms of production and one of the most popular Italian dairy specialties in the world, with an annual production of approximately 200,000 metric tons of milk from a thousand farms and transformed into 22,000 metric tons of cheese sold in over fifty countries.

With its growing presence and awareness, the Consortium has adopted a “zero tolerance” policy and paid particular attention to foreign markets, which are crucial to the specialty’s growth and the fight against so-called “Italian Sounding”—the use of names, images, colors, and references that evoke Italianness to promote products that, in reality, have no connection to Italy. Recent estimates indicate this phenomenon is worth €73 billion, compared to exports of €71 billion. If it were to translate into actual revenue, it would bring the country’s export potential to approximately €143 billion (source: TEHA GROUP Ambrosetti elaboration on Istat data, 2026). In both phases of the proceedings, the Protection Consortium was assisted by the law firm Bird & Bird.

“We believe this judgment,” said Fiorenzo Rigoni, President of the Asiago PDO Cheese Consortium, “could set an important legal precedent for those who work every day to promote Made in Italy and combat ‘Italian Sounding’. At the Asiago PDO Cheese Consortium, we will continue to build recognition of the distinctive characteristics of the PDO product, which is markedly different from products described as ‘common’, meaning generic, in Asiago cheese’s leading export market and in all the countries where it is appreciated by millions of consumers.” 

Riccardo Deserti, President of Origin, the global alliance of geographical indications, added: “This judgment is a positive result not only for Asiago PDO but for all geographical indications, and shows the central role that protection consortia play in enhancing the value of protected quality products. Particular credit goes to the Asiago PDO Cheese Consortium for its belief in, and investment in, legal protection, recognizing that this is the primary means of supporting and promoting the work of dairies and dairy farmers.”