The agro-food park of San Daniele
Take a map of Friuli Venezia Giulia and point a compass on San Daniele: the circle forming around its centre will include the territories of Ragogna, Fagagna, Rive d’Arcano, Coseano and Dignano. The agrofood Park of San Daniele (established by ASDI, the Industrial District Development Agency) is located exactly in the heart of Friuli, the province of Udine: 168 sq km and about 25.000 residents.The Park includes some of the most suggestive hills of the regional glacial amphitheatre, several streams, channels and one of the last basins of glacial origin, the lake of Ragogna. Also Mount Ragogna, overlooking the surroundings of San Daniele, and the plain stretching from Rodeano Basso to Coseano give a distinctive character to the landscape. The Asdi has a single mission that can be summarized in three key words: Park, agrofood and San Daniele. “Park” stands for environmental protection and sustainability; “agro-food” includes the entire production chain that links farming life with food production; “San Daniele” has become a renowned brand in international trade. The area of the Park is rich in history, culture and lore, as witnessed by the large number of castles, ancient churches and villas, or its Roman remains and manuscripts. In the last century, this area was profoundly affected by two world wars, which caused a heavy migration and misery. The 1976 earthquake thwarted the low but ongoing after-war economic recovery. It was only thanks to the nation’s solidarity that productive businesses could start anew, supporting the determination and morale of the local population.
A Growing Economy
The bubbling local economy of the 70s suffered a setback in the decade after the earthquake. In 1996 the productive sector (services, trade, industry) counted about 1’600 companies for a total of almost 5’000 workers. The geographical location of these settlements, placed along the North-South and East-West traffic routes, has favoured up to the present day a strong trading and craft vocation that has proven successful also internationally. The dominant and driving sector remains the manufacturing industry, while trade and services are mostly smallscale and local. The agro-food industry has been the most rapidly expanding segment, thanks to the excellent quality of its products, its high level of specialization based on the ancient handicraft traditions, its reliability in terms of hygiene and services, its satisfactory quality/price ratio and widespread presence in global markets. In the Park area, the agro-food sector is represented by over 100 businesses employing about 1000 people directly and another 700 in ancillary industries. The most important food productions comprise dry-cured ham, beef, cured pork products; sweet and savoury bakery goods; diary products; fish and smoked trout; organic products; wine and spirits. The companies that have joined the Consortium for the protection of San Daniele ham are about 30 and employ 500 persons. The production exceeds 40 million kg ham per year, corresponding to 2’600’000 DOP-branded (PDO, protected designation of origin) pork legs, 82% of which are sold on the Italian market. About one thousand businesses are involved in farming, with an average farming area of 7 hectares each. Half of these farms also breed animals. Grapevine and grains are the most widespread crops.