The Bilzi family has been producing and ageing Parmigiano Reggiano since the beginning of the last century.
It was Oreste Bilzi who first decided to dedicate himself to the management of his own dairy in a small village in the Parma Valley, in the early 1900s. The Second World War and a series of unfortunate events forced the family to give up the dairy, thankfully to Oreste’s grandson, who at the time, was only a child. He inherited his grandfather’s love of all things to do with cheese, and showed an early interest in agricultural studies at school.
So it was with his knowledge acquired at school, the trade secrets passed on by his grandfather and thorough first-hand experience that Oreste decided to set up Zabo Form in the sixties. The firm has moved on in the last forty years, and whilst the ageing of Parmigiano Reggiano can still be considered its core business, other traditional products from the Emilia Romagna region have been added to the product range in order to provide a complete service. Today, Oreste passes on invaluable advice and suggestions to his children, who have decided to carry on the family business; time will only tell whether his same passion is passed on to his grandson, who as fate would have it, is called Oreste.