The link between breed, territory and product quality: the case of the Cinta Senese.

The study reports the results of a survey on farming issues from a representative sample of Cinta Senese farms located in Tuscany. The paper reports statistics relating to technical and managerial aspects of farms such as: farm size, land use, feeding techniques, production and reproductive parameters, health management, marketing techniques. The information generated were then analyzed to identify the strengths and weakness of the system, while giving the real opportunities for development of the breed. Again, thanks to results of the survey, this paper describes the main types of salami made from Cinta Senese, indicating, also in this case, the strengths and weakness of the system, especially for what concerns the technical processing and marketing strategy. Particular emphasis is given to issues related to the management of the Protected Denomination Origin (PDO) that, for the Cinta Senese,was obtained, as a transitional, exclusively for the fresh meat.