THE EUROPEAN OPTIONAL QUALITY TERM "MOUNTAIN PRODUCT": HYPOTHETICAL APPLICATION IN THE PRODUCTION CHAIN OF A TRADITIONAL DAIRY PRODUCT 1 Alessandro BONADONNA Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Turin, Corso Unione Sovietica, 218bis – 10134 Torino, e-mail: alessandro.bonadonna@unito.it Giovanni PEIRA Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Turin, Corso Unione Sovietica, 218bis – 10134 Torino, e-mail: giovanni.peira@unito.it Erica VARESE Assistant Professor, Department of Management, University of Turin, Corso Unione Sovietica, 218bis – 10134 Torino, e-mail: erica.varese@unito.it Abstract EU Delegated Regulation no. 665/2014 defines the requirements for applying the optional "mountain product" quality term, which was introduced with EU Regulation no. 1151/2012. These requirements are the result of a long process on the part of the European Commission to standardise the different approaches presented by those Member States for whom the term is relevant. The purpose of this study was to assess the applicability of the provisions of the Regulation to the production chain of cow's milk and milk products. Specifically, the study was geared to assessing the requirements in relation to a milk product in the Piedmont cheese-making tradition, the "Toma del lait brusc." Although restricted to a limited geographical area and to a particular traditional product, the results of the survey provide an initial assessment of the applicability of the instrument. Companies operating in the mountains and those practising transhumance would be able to use the optional term provided they are able to self-produce a substantial portion of their fodder or obtain it locally and can regularly document the diet of their animals. Some of the Regulation's requirements, however, await derogations and clarifications from the national legislator. Keywords: mountain product, optional quality term, traditional dairy product, niche production, Toma del lait brusc 1. Introduction In a well-known publication (Petrini, 2005), Carlo Petrini sums up the meaning of the term globalisation in the apparently illogical behaviour of Asti farmers. In 1996, while they were reproducing tulip bulbs for fields in the Netherlands, Dutch farmers were exporting to Italy sweet peppers produced, like other vegetables, through hydroponics. More generally, this mechanism was worthy of criticism for its distortive effects. International trade was fuelling the phenomenon of replacing territorial specificities with standardised productions devoid of social, historical and traditional content. 1 This paper is one of the results of the project " Ipotesi di sistema certificativo per la tutela e la promozione di produzioni agroalimentari delle aree montane: definizione e stesura delle linee guida di orientamento in un area modello piemontese (Hypothesis of certification system for the protection and promotion of agricultural food production in mountain areas: definition and drafting of guidelines for guidance in an area model Piedmontese)" coordinated by Alessandro Bonadonna. The present paper is the result of full and equal cooperation among all the authors.