Organized around different speculative cultures such as sericulture, truffle farming, and lavender farming, Banon is especially famous for the production of the eponymous goat cheese. Derived from old recipes developed in the farms of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, banon is a raw milk cheese with a soft paste and a natural rind 3.15 in (8 cm) in diameter by 0.7 to 1.1 in (2 to 3 cm) high and weighing around 3.5 oz (100 g). It is made using the soft curd technique and folded into brown chestnut leaves bound with a sprig of natural raffia. Inherited from the past and conservation issues, the alchemy between the fermentation of the soft curd and the tannins of the chestnut leaf gives it unique aromas. The banon has been protected by an AOC (Controlled Designation of Origin) since July 23, 2003.