The equivalent of three financial laws, which in many years have made us cry tears of blood: this is the amount of the equivalent turnover of the turnover of the Italian sounding industry. And if we want to go down from the economic data to the social ones, we can consider that with that turnover 300.000 jobs could be created, twice the number of ENI employees scattered throughout Italy and the world.
Here is a few figures explaining, with the worrying evidence of the numbers, what Italian Sounding is, an international phenomenon which for years now represents the most serious attack on the Made in Italy agri-food sector, the fruit of centuries-old cultures, and on which the Mediterranean diet is based and has been registered since 2010 in the list of intangible cultural heritage of humanity.
The phenomenon that started years ago and took a little lightly, has now assumed devastating proportions not only for our economy but also from the point of view of the organoleptic qualities of the products that pass themselves off as genuine Italians and finally from the health point of view. It has in fact been calculated that two out of three Italian-type food products sold on the international market are the result of international agro-piracy.
On the podium of counterfeits, cheeses rise to first place, certainly not appreciated, starting with Parmigiano Reggiano, followed by cured meats and sausages, with ham in the lead, while oil remains stable on the third podium.
Mind you nothing new under the sun. The problem of commercial fraud was already widespread in the Middle Ages. To the point that St. Thomas Aquinas talks about it in his Summa Theologiae addressing the principles of fairness that should inspire the relationship between producer, merchant and buyer. For the Dominican preacher, doctor of the Church, failing to follow these principles constitutes an illicit behavior, which becomes a sin when the seller does it deliberately.
But the Summa Theologica of St. Thomas remained largely unheard of for all the centuries to come. In fact, the phenomenon essentially developed during the XNUMXth century, with the beginning of the industrial production of food and the expansion of commercial exchanges: there was a growing demand to satisfy which was not always able to purchase expensive products, and often also to face the lack of supply, for which more and more recourse is made, both out of necessity and to increase profits, to adulterated foods.
The problem is that in the modern era, with the success of Made in Italy and the Mediterranean Diet, which in recent days at the Expo received authoritative sponsorship with Michelle Obama, a staunch supporter of a natural diet as a philosophy of life, has taken contours of a real economic system.
From this point of view, Expo 2015 can be a moment of serious reflection on what to do and how to do to curb the phenomenon and above all on how to take advantage of the Expo's global audience to relaunch the authenticity and properties of Italian agri-food, its flavours, its healthy benefits.
«I think the time has come - said the Minister of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies, Maurizio Martina - to take on a responsibility: to experiment. We have to innovate the way Italy presents itself to the world: I strongly believe in the possibility of a single brand that identifies Made In Italy, working as a team. Because our excellences are like teams playing in the Champions League, which can help us set a symbolic point, on which we can then converge with the individual companies, consortia and associations».
And the starting point can only be the PDOs around which to then move all the necessary actions in a shared way at the different levels. At Expo 2015 this theme began to be developed programmatically.
However, the problem of Italian sounding should not be seen only from the point of view of defending the genuine Italian product, there is a disturbing and subtle aspect behind this phenomenon, as denounced by the former Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Turin Gian Carlo Caselli , in his speech at the round table "Food legality and responsibility: the Expo challenge for the agriculture of the future".
"The mafias - he said - do not deny themselves anything, everything that makes it possible to launder money with apparently lawful activities, to conquer pieces of territory and the market, consolidate and increase economic power, sooner or later, will be subject to actions by the mafia, that tries to slip in with means and tools that easily allow it to succeed. This is why I accepted Coldiretti's invitation to chair the Scientific Committee on Crime in Agriculture”. A business estimated, by default, by the magistrate at around 14 billion euros.
So from his new command bridge he outlined the operational priorities: the merciless fight against Italian sounding, which has a turnover of 60 billion euros a year, with the imitation and counterfeiting of Italian products by foreign companies, but also – and we need to think about this – of Italians located abroad; strategy for monitoring 'Italian laundering', i.e. the phenomenon of famous brands acquired by others and often deprived of quality, pieces of our economy that get lost and behind which non-transparent money investments can be hidden. But also a strategy to combat illegal agromafia infiltrations in the Italian agri-food sector, a brand that has a very strong appeal, especially in times of economic crisis - explained Caselli - and which is our best ambassador abroad: for this reason it must be defended, to protect the quality and safety of the products and therefore the health of the consumers but also because all this affects above all the absolute or relative poorest who are increasingly numerous in Italy, who turn to the product at a lower cost, often less guaranteed and safer for health".
For its part, the Ministry of Agricultural Policies has already taken steps obtaining concrete results: in 2014 more than 110 checks were carried out on the Italian agri-food chain, with seizures for over 40 million euros and in 2015 the interventions were multiplied tenfold, going from about ten to 145 cases of withdrawal from the market of products. And the European legislation, strongly desired by Italy (EU regulation 1151/12), allows to activate the protection of our PGI and PDO products throughout the EU with the full involvement of the Member States in which the irregular sale takes place . "These operations show us once again - Martina underlines with satisfaction - how effective and authoritative our control system is which, not surprisingly, is taken as a model by many countries".
And it is thanks to this legislation that in Great Britain, thanks to the collaboration of the Department for Environment Food and Rural affairs (Defra), the British Ministry of the Environment, Food and Agriculture, it has been possible to block the sale of a fake Prosecco dop on tap in shops, clubs, supermarkets and websites, or if in Holland “Jumbo” and “C1000”, large-scale retail chains, have been prevented from selling a pre-packaged salami, the “Parma Ham”, passed off as real Prosciutto di Parma.
But we can also cite the case of the celebrated and legendary 'Harrods' department stores which sold under their own brand an oil bottled in the United Kingdom and passed off as 'Tuscan' PGI extra virgin olive oil, a protected designation in the EU or millions of bottles of a multicolor liqueur, which exploits the name "Sambuca" and the fame of the traditional Italian product had invaded the European market a year ago, especially the British. All too well known are the case of Parmesan produced in Wisconsin or in California which in the United States in almost nine out of ten cases is passed off as Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano.
And you can continue with Provolone, Gorgonzola, Pecorino Romano, Asiago or Fontina, all victims of global agro-piracy, as well as our most prestigious cured meats, from Parma Ham to San Daniele, Mortadella, or extra virgin of olive oil and preserves such as the San Marzano tomato which is produced in California and sold throughout the United States.
The problem is that Italy has the greatest agro-food wealth in the world in terms of distinctive products: in fact, it has 271 products with PDO and PGI denominations (to which two traditional agri-food specialties must be added - Stg), for a total, estimated by Coldiretti, of about 90 workers and 150 cultivated hectares. The value of production is 6,6 billion euros, while the value of exports in 2014 amounts to 2,4 billion euros, up 5 percent on the previous year. To these - Coldiretti continues - must be added the 523 denominations of origin for wines and the 39 indications for other alcoholic products, with 200 producers and 350 hectares of vineyards, for a production value of 7,1 billion euros, over to the 4,3 billion euros of exports.
All for a consumer turnover of 13,5 billion euros. At this point, it is easy to understand how the Italian sounding industrialists, whose turnover, as has been said, amounts to over 60 billion euros, almost double the value of our agri-food exports, are spoiled for choice on where to focus for their food counterfeits. And so we find the Parma Salami produced in Mexico, the Parmesao in Brazil, the Regianito in Argentina, the Sicilian Mortadella that comes from Brazil, a Roman Style sauce made in California, the Ligurian Pesto from Pennsylvania, a Bolognese condiment from Estonia or a Pecorino cheese produced in China with which milk can you imagine it…
There is no limit to the imagination of counterfeiters. Apart from inventing a Sicilian Mortadella which is a whole program, a Kit for the home production of the most famous Italian cheeses is circulating on the net. And so with a concoction of pills and powders they ensure that it is possible to make mozzarella at home in 30 minutes. Not to mention a mozzarella seen in London complete with an “Italian Technology” sign…
And goodbye Battipaglia buffaloes who have been doing their job since the year 1000! But there are also wine kits that in the EU alone have made it possible to make a home wine estimated at 20 million bottles a year with assonant names such as Barollo, Cantia, Vinoncella and Monticino to drink instead of Valpolicella and Brunello of Montalcino.
Paolo Gibello, president of Deloitte Italia which has carried out a detailed research, published by Slow Food Editore, estimates that "The agri-food sector in Italy has a total value of 250 billion euros, or 15% of GDP, and is made up of over 880 companies that have an average of 1-2 employees”. The value of exports has exceeded 30 billion euros, thanks to the visibility achieved by the products and innovations, as well as the quality that characterizes the "made in Italy" products…
“This shows that we are talking about micro-reality; in fact, there are only 10 companies with corporate assets of at least 20 euros”. There are only 50 companies with a turnover of more than 300 million euros: of these, 70% are divided between Emilia Romagna, Piedmont, Lombardy and Veneto. “This widespread dwarfism means that companies are not ready to face, for example, the challenge of international markets”.
An important heritage not only from a cultural and historical point of view, not only from a gastronomic point of view, but above all an important voice in our production sector, with employment effects at the levels of large industries and a significant surplus on the balance of payments with foreign countries. Thus, the appeal launched by Minister Martina appears to be all the more important for the agri-food sector to form a system around its leading products and above all to know how to promote and protect them at national and international level. From this point of view, the Expo represents an excellent test case for moving from good intentions to deeds.
