The marketing strategy for traditional food products is often based around their strong connection with their production region and claims of a lower environmental impact due to being grown in the agricultural area for which they were selected. Such traditional foods often comprise ancient cultivars that are unsuitable for large-scale distribution, but generally require less agricultural inputs. However, specific environmental evaluations of ancient cultivars in comparison with commercial cultivars are very rare. This study investigated ancient apple cultivars in Piemonte (Northern Italy) as a case study of traditional food in the framework of sustainable food production.