Sustainable Agriculture for the Next Generation Through “Made in Italy”

Birra Peroni, an Italian brewery with a long history, has launched Campus Peroni, a program to hand down sustainable agriculture to the next generation. The national agricultural research organization, the agriculture faculties of local universities, and local barley growers have formed a partnership to take on the challenge of a high-quality “Made in Italy” beer.

Birra Peroni is one of Italy's most well-known and best loved breweries. Since it started making beer in 1846, this venerable company has maintained its insistence on using Italian malt to produce the finest beer. It launched a project on a grand scale in 2018. That project is Campus Peroni, a program that will support barley growers and university students studying agriculture, while exploring even greater possibilities for malts.
The goal of Campus Peroni is to create mechanisms for the cultivation of barley that will simultaneously elevate the quality and sustainability of Italian malt while fostering innovation, to enable brewers to keep making 100% Italian malt beer. It is the company's vision to use this initiative to nurture a unique production culture and pass it down to the next generation. Achieving this ambitious goal will require bringing together as one the wisdom of professionals in every field involved in barley cultivation. As well as Birra Peroni's malt factory, Italy's Council for Agricultural Research and Economics, the agriculture faculties of six local universities, and local barley growers are participating in the program. This partnership formed among people in varying positions makes the project an experiment in integrating knowledge across different fields.

A unique feature of Campus Peroni is that it consists of three main pillars-research, education, and exchange. Generating innovation through research into barley cultivation. Promoting sustainable agriculture by inviting barley growers to offer guidance to agricultural students in their own growing and malting techniques and farm management processes. Building networks through interaction between barley producers in an effort to protect and nurture new production cultures. By closely linking these three pillars, it will be possible to create a completely integrated mechanism that can be implemented in every step of production, from the beginning to the end of beer production.
Brewers, researchers, educators, farmers, and students. The participants of Campus Peroni, all with differing positions and experiences, share a single common thought. That is their pride in the exceptional quality of raw materials “Made in Italy” and their tireless passion to elevate the value of Italian beer. To keep making richly flavorful beer from sustainable, high-quality ingredients fifty years, even 100 years from now. Birra Peroni's challenge to pass the baton of sustainable agriculture on to the next generation has only just begun.