The company’s history began in 1877 with Gennaro Auricchio, a merchant from Torre del Greco (Naples), who opened several shops in San Giuseppe Vesuviano (Naples) selling olive oil, lard, hams, and cheeses. The company established itself in the dairy sector with the production of provolone and sheep’s milk cheeses, thanks to an exclusive recipe and a special ingredient known as “Don Gennaro’s secret.” This secret gave the products a unique and unmistakable flavor, making the founder’s surname synonymous with cheese, especially in Southern Italy. To address the milk shortage in Campania and the growing demand for provolone, the founder decided to travel to the Po Valley in search of high-quality, abundant milk. In Cremona, he found a fertile area rich in dairy cattle; so he began organizing the work of local cheesemakers, teaching them how to produce provolone, a cheese until then virtually unknown in Northern Italy. In the early 1900s, the fame of Auricchio provolone grew, both in Italy and abroad, and with the first emigrants it crossed the ocean to the United States, particularly in the Italian community of Little Italy in New York.

The first official logo, created in 1910—a key moment for the company, marking the transition from a family business to a more structured and recognizable market presence—was a logo featuring the founder’s name and surname in an elongated, uppercase font. In 1949, the registered and administrative headquarters of Auricchio, now a joint-stock company, were moved to Cremona, while the maturing, refining, and marketing operations were moved to San Giuseppe Vesuviano. In 1950, the logo began to take on a more defined and distinctive form, moving from a more artisanal style to a more standardized graphic design. The merchant’s name was eliminated, his surname was spelled out in red, and a so-called “Egyptian” font with strong serifs was used.

In 1959, a symbol appeared in the logo for the first time, defined as the “A with an anchor,” which can be interpreted either as a human figure holding the provolone or as a hook on which the provolone was hung. In truth, this “anchor” was already present in 1910 in the logo of a company owned by Gennaro’s brother, Ferdinando, which was located in Castellammare di Stabia and, presumably, was the symbol of production in an area with a maritime vocation.

In 1985, the 1950 logo was reintroduced, but with a reduction in the space between the letters and a graphic redesign of the lower part of the letter “U.” In 1987, the anthropomorphic symbol was positioned to the left of the logo. In 1992, at the height of the economic crisis, a foreign multinational offered to buy 50% of the company, but President Gennaro Auricchio, grandson of the founder, and his sons decided to acquire all the shares put up for sale, reuniting the company under a single family nucleus, as it had been in 1877.

In 1993, the symbol was positioned at the top center of the logo, while in 2001 it was positioned next to the initial letter of the logo. Starting in the 1990s, the company embarked on a policy of renewal thanks to new investments and several Italian and foreign acquisitions. Between 1998 and 2002, the company embarked on a bold marketing strategy: to seal its originality, each slice of Auricchio was signed with a texture from the brand.

In 2011, the logo consisted of a red shape containing the various elements of the composition; for the first time, the founding date and the Italian tricolour appeared as highly valuable elements in commercial competition.

In 2014, the logo’s restyling brought the positive elements back into a more balanced composition. In 2017, the 140th anniversary was celebrated with a stamp issue in the series “Excellence of the Production and Economic System” by the Ministry of Economic Development and Poste Italiane.