From the sea to Parma, through the salt road.

The Anchovies supply chain and the Parma Food Valley: an ancient bond

Anchovies, a typical product of the Mediterranean, and the Parma Food Valley, kilometres away from the sea: it may seem that these two Italian areas of excellence have nothing in common. And yet, the fish preserves supply chain and Parma’s industrial world are connected by a strong and ancient bond that originated along one of the many Salt Roads that used to link the coastal areas to the Po Valley.

This route, which connected Liguria to the Parma area, was primarily used for the trading of salt, a valuable resource on which heavy duties were imposed. Legend has it that in order to avoid inspection, some people had the idea of filling barrels with salt and covering the top with a layer of anchovies.

However, they soon came to realize that the anchovy business was more profitable and less risky than smuggling salt.

At the end of the 19th century, the Rizzoli brothers, Luigi and Emilio Zefirino, owners of Tosi & Rizzoli, Italy’s most specialized company in fish preserves, chose Parma as their new headquarters. In the heart of the Food Valley, the tomato processing industry was making giant strides and developing increasingly efficient and safe packaging technologies, communication routes were fast and a functional and modern railway system was in place.

The 20th century was the most prosperous period for the fishing industry in Parma, with the founding of two other leading companies in the national market: Zarotti and Delicius.

After over a century of history, the connection with our Food Valley remains very strong: 70% of all Anchovies in oil consumed in Italy are produced here.

Despite the time that has passed, today the processing is still done entirely by hand by skilled artisans. The fresh anchovies are visually inspected as soon as they arrive at the production plants, after which “scapatura” takes place, that is, the removal of the head and entrails in a single expert movement. Next, the aging process begins, which is very similar to what happens with Prosciutto di Parma PDO: the Anchovies are placed in wooden barrels, 

layered in salt, and left to rest for about 6 months in a stable temperature environment. Once ready, the anchovies are desalted, skinned, drained of excess liquid, divided by size, and finally filleted and packaged: even today, all this is a completely manual process.

The historical connection with the city of Parma is very strong and extends to other areas of excellence, such as the world of opera: tradition has it that the most famous singers eat a few pieces of a salted anchovy before going on stage to help dry their vocal cords for better intonation.