No more imitations of the most prestigious Made in Italy agri-food brands abroad. The last – but only in chronological order – legal theater of war it will be the courts of New Zealand. In fact, the Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano has sued the multinational Kraft Foods Group Brands LLC to prevent it from coming registered 'Kraft Parmesan Cheese' as an official trademark in New Zealand”, which would greatly harm one of the products of Made in Italy excellence.
“The Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano – stated the president Nicola Bertinelli – has registered the trademark of the King of cheeses in New Zealand for over 20 years and with this action aims to protect the interest of PDO producers from attempted registration which would be against the law, and harmful to New Zealand consumers and Italian producers”.
“We will always be – added Bertelli – at the forefront both in the negotiation phases of international agreements and in the exercise of protection functions to defend a right of transparency that we consider sacrosanct for consumers all over the world. It is not easy for Parmigiano Reggiano dairies to deal with multinationals worth over 20 billion euros, the Consortium is and will always be on Davide's side in the fight against the giants".
Among other things, from 30 August to XNUMX September, the Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano is among the protagonists of “Identity of Origin. Dop and Igp from Italy and Europe” at FICO Eataly World of Bologna: an international meeting and three days of market reviews, tastings and events on PDO and PGI specialties, to get to know and taste the excellence of Italian and European food and wine.
To understand the significant damage caused to the Italian agro-food industry by Italian Sounding, a term which identifies international piracy that improperly uses words, colours, places, images, denominations and recipes that recall Italy for counterfeit foods that have no nothing to do with the national production system, it should be remembered which in economic terms has been valued at over 100 billion euros of lost revenue and unfortunately the figure is destined to grow because the Italian product attracts a lot on foreign markets.
What caused the fake to explode - Coldiretti complains - was paradoxically the "hunger" of Italy abroad with the proliferation of low cost imitations but also the commercial wars resulting from political tensions, such as the Russian embargo, with a real boom in the local production of fake Made in Italy food, from Italian salami to mozzarella “Casa Italia”, from the “Buona Italia” salad to Robiola, but also the Milanese mortadella, Parmesan or burrata, all rigorously made in Putin's country. What is worrying - Coldiretti continues - is also the new season of bilateral trade agreements inaugurated with the Canada (CETA) that for the first time in history the European Union legitimizes food piracy to the detriment of the most prestigious Made in Italy products in an international treaty, explicitly granting the green light to imitations that exploit the names of national specialties, from Asiago to Fontina from Gorgonzola to Parma and San Daniele hams, but Parmigiano Reggiano is also freely produced and marketed from Canada with the translation of Parmesan.
The result is that Made in Italy agri-food exports which in 2018 reached a value of 41,8 billion euros thanks to a growth rate of 1,8% which however - underlines Coldiretti - has been reduced to about ¼ of that of 2017 when an increase of 7% was recorded.
“In other words abroad more than two out of three Italian-type products are fake” says the president of Coldiretti Ettore Prandini in underlining that “greater rigor at the national level with the new rules on the labeling of Made in Italy origin of foods is important to gain greater credibility in international negotiations and beat the so-called “Italian sounding”.
A phenomenon that affects all products to varying degrees, from cured meats to preserves, from wine to cheeses but also extra virgin olive oil, sauces or pasta and covers all continents. In reality, unlike what happens for other items such as fashion or technology, it is not poor countries that fake Italian food, but above all the emerging or richer ones, starting from the United States and Australia. At the top of the ranking of the most fake products are cheeses, starting with Parmigiano Reggiano and Grana Padano, with the production of copies surpassing that of the originals, from Brazilian parmesao to Argentine reggianito up to parmesan spread across all continents.
But there are also imitations of Provolone, Gorgonzola, Pecorino Romano, Asiago or Fontina. Among the cured meats, the most prestigious are cloned, from Parma to San Daniele, but also Bologna mortadella or hunter salami and extra virgin olive oil or preserves such as San Marzano tomato which is produced in California and sold throughout the United States. From the Argentine Bordolino in the white and red version complete with the tricolor flag to the German Kressecco, in addition to the white Barbera produced in Romania and the Chianti made in California, the South American and US Marsala are finally just a few examples of the counterfeits and imitations of our wines and most prestigious liqueurs.
