Sterilgarda Alimenti S.p.A. is an Italian dairy produce company, based in Castiglione delle Stiviere in the Province of Mantua.
History
Sterilgarda was formed in 1969 by a group of local dairy farming entrepreneurs to take advantage of two new technology innovations in milk production: the development of UHT milk, and the invention of the Tetrapak container. When combined, this would allow dairies to stabilise production, allowing long-term storage of quantities of milk for when they were need to be purchased by consumers, and also extend the possible distribution chain even to where there was no daily door-step delivery.[1]
Formed and still based in Castiglione delle Stiviere, the company started out by supplying just milk delivery companies. It quickly expanded in the 1970s to forming partnerships with retailers, and later into the foods market supplying milk and whey for the production of mascarpone cheese. Later in the decade, the company started centralised production of tomato paste, being close to the "hot-break" tomato production centres of the Casalasco farmers co-operative, located in Rivarolo del Re ed Uniti, Parma and Piacenza along the River Po valley.[1]