the Origins

The owners want to stress the fact that the "Fiorini" family could be called an enlarged family because the over twenty workers employed in the establishmen as well as the local breeders - who furnish the paragon raw materials- proudly partecipate to these successes.

Therefore, the nowadays success of the Forino Dairy has its origin in bygone days and springs from an old family tradition, a treasure of tangible experiences and a professional attitude to work made manifest in thousands of details and in the neverending quest to guarantee that same quality and wholesomeness of the products which is at times denied in the industrial process.

The history of the dairy is a family history as well and Duilio Fiorini's resourcefulness is, with certainty, the heritage of a race of great workers. Let's go back to his father, Ferrero, who was a landowner and owner of a considerable flock while his mother Caterina Pandolfi had a natural leaning towards business and successfully managed a shop in the village selling foodstuffs and hardware.

The "founder" as Duilio is called by everybody can regard himself as a real pioneer. His is the merit of having contributed to the recovery of the old and precious "Marzolino", a cheese very appreciated since the Middle Ages. Furthermore, in 1985 he was among the promoting partners of the association for the safeguard of the Tuscan pecorino cheese.

Today

At present the establishment is being managed with boldness by Duilio's daughter, Angela, who has inherited her father's untiring attitude to work and who has found an exceptional partner in her husband Simone, perfectly able to bring the firm name beyond the boundaries of Tuscany. This paragon artisan establishment is exporting today all around the world, winning international prizes owing to the perfection of their own production.

The owners want to stress the fact that the "Fiorini" family could be called an enlarged family because the over twenty workers employed in the establishmen as well as the local breeders - who furnish the paragon raw materials- proudly partecipate to these successes.

In the dairy Il Fiorino the cheese is made following this ancient and masterly handling, even though applied to technologies, machineries, rules and proceedings absolutely adequate to the very high standards concerning cleanliness, safety and quality. The milk is processed shortly after milking, pouring it into an open boiler and heating it at 36 ° C. The natural rennet lets the fatty component curdle thus producing the curd. Different cheese sorts are obtained from the different breaks of the curd.

From the break into bigger pieces delicate cheese sorts are produced, with high water content and to be consumed within a short time, while the break into smaller pieces provides the foundation for cheese sorts requiring a long maturing time. The whey left over after the cheese production is used to make fresh ricotta cheese, a delight to the palate and to be consumed within a period of time as short as possible.

Fresh cheese sorts are left to mature in damp and warm rooms to complete the purging and the lactic fermentation to build up their taste. Hard cheese sorts are left to mature after having been dry-salted, a proceeding that besides giving them a stronger taste allows their conservation. The whole cheese forms are put on wooden boards and left to mature in a natural way in dequate rooms as far as temperature and umidity are concerned as this phase of the proceedings is decisive for the final quality of the product. The mould appearing in this lapse of time is washed away strictly by hand and only with water. Before being marketed the product is only brushed by hand.

Every process is carried out by expert hands and by impassioned personnel, most of them grown with the establishment with important economic and energetic investments. Anyway, this is our way of working, only in this way we can and want to produce cheese. And the results are there to be appreciated by tasting our products.

Near the village, at the spot where the old artisan establishment was placed the Fiorini cave (grotto) - the heart and soul of the whole dairy - has been enlarged and restored.
The most renowned Il Fiorino products such as the Pecorino Riserva del Fondatore, the Pecorino Grotta del Fiorini and the Cacio di Caterina come from these fascinating surroundings, ideal to be used for the maturing process.

These products are treasures enclosing a fragrance and flavour to be obtained only through a long period of quiet at the right temperature and ventilation that only the environment can provide.
The maturing in a cave causes the untreated crust to be covered with the typical white and grayish moulds which are a feature of products of excellence.

It is the last matchless and irreproducible "touch" before reaching the end of the production line of the dairy Il Fiorino before the distribution.

Each Il Fiorino cheese exhales the flavour of the most genuine Maremma, owing to an artisan processing method. It develops inside the dairy and the raw materials are accurately selected. All the ewe's milk needed for the cheese is collected at the breeders using the equipment of the establishment. The milk comes from local flocks accurately selected during the years.

• Classici
• Aromatizzati
• Affinati
• Elite
• Freschissimi
• Speciali

The shop is more than a point of sale of the Il fiorino cheese sorts: it is a small, great corner of the Tuscan Maremma.

In it it is possible to choose, buy and taste the typical products from this wonderful land. The products are carefully selected according to those values of wholesomeness, loyalty to tradition and simplicity belonging to the territory.

It is a feather in one's cap also owing to its tasteful interior decoration. A genuine visiting card and the pride of the Il Fiorino.

Among the many awards bestowed on the establishment during the years we are herewith mentioning a few of the most recent and important ones: in 2007 at the Trofeo Caseario di San Lucio, in the Cremona Province, where the Fiorini won the prize "Best of the best" (for the Best Italian Cheese) with the Pecorino Toscano DOP; the Gold Medal won in june 2013 with the "Riserva del Fondatore Duilio Fiorini" at the prestigious Mundial du Fromage et des Produits Laitiers in Tours (Valley of the Loire) and finally the super Gold for the Best Pecorino in the World given to the same "Riserva del Fondatore" in London in the month of november 2014.

Nowadays the Il Fiorino specialties are to be found at the most prestigious points of sales in the whole world together with the best international gourmet cuisine, in London as well as in New York.

In this way, it is owing to the brand Il Fiorino that the Made in Tuscany, or more accurately the Made in the Tuscan Maremma, continues to be a byword for excellence.

We are at your disposal for any need and curiosity. Feel free to contact us anytime!