World Buffalo Congress returns to Italy after 20 years

The World Buffalo Congress opened in Sorrento on Wednesday, the first time Italy has hosted the event in nearly 20 years, with roughly 500 delegates from 20 countries meeting to discuss the animal behind Campania's mozzarella di bufala.

The 14th edition runs through Friday at the Hotel Hilton Sorrento Palace, organised by the University of Naples Federico II's veterinary faculty, the Consorzio di Tutela della Mozzarella di Bufala Campana DOP, and the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale del Mezzogiorno. Delegates submitted 283 scientific papers for the three-day programme, followed by two days of farm and dairy visits.

Giuseppe Campanile, president of the International Buffalo Federation, opened proceedings by asking what role the species can play in agriculture's future. Sessions through Thursday cover genomics, nutrition, animal welfare, environmental impact and the functional properties of buffalo milk.

Mozzarella di bufala campana DOP is a productive asset that creates value across the whole supply chain.

Friday turns to the market

The congress closes on Friday with sessions dedicated to the economics of the supply chain, including the market value of mozzarella di bufala campana DOP. Domenico Raimondo, president of the Consorzio, called the cheese "a productive asset that creates value across the whole supply chain."

The consortium's own figures put 2024 production at 55.7 million kilograms, up 0.23% on 2023, spread across as many as 1,300 farms across Campania, Lazio, Puglia and Molise, the four regions covered by the DOP. Exports, though, slipped to 36.8% of output in 2024 from 38.3% the year before.

France still leads export demand

France remains the largest export market, taking 31.8% of shipments abroad, ahead of Germany on 18.1% and Spain on 8.1%. The consortium has not released figures for 2025 or 2026.

Sorrento last hosted the congress in 2006. The International Buffalo Federation holds the event roughly every three years, rotating between Italy and other producing countries including Brazil, India and China. Buffalo mozzarella itself keeps picking up prizes on the international circuit, including recent entries at the World Cheese Awards. Organisers say this week's scientific sessions are meant to feed directly into how the DOP area's roughly 1,300 farms manage herds over the next decade, not just how the cheese is marketed abroad.