Grana Padano PDO is confirmed as the undisputed leader of GIs (
Geographical Indications
) agri-food products made in Italy. From 2002 to the present, exports have grown in double digits, year on year. And production volumes increased by 35.5 percent. Some insights to increase the Value of Italian hard cheeses.
Grana Padano PDO, the leader‘s figure.
Grana Padano’s performance expresses‘numbers absolutely unapproachable by any other PDO, not just dairy,’ explains Stefano Berni, director general of the Protection Consortium.
The 3.2 million molds processed in the first seven months of 2019 (there were 4,932,996 molds produced in 2018) offer the prospect of reaching a production of 195 thousand tons in 2019. 51 thousand tons more, +35.5%, than in 2002. A driver for domestic demand for Italian milk, 700 thousand tons from the areas specified in the PDO specification alone.
Grana Padano, the first PDO on the planet
The world’s best-selling Italian PDO cheese, Grana Padano continues to reap success in international markets. Over the period under consideration, 2002-2019, exports grew by double digits year-on-year, +10.25 percent the average. Up to the estimated 767,241 forms at foreign destination in 2019.
In the current year, therefore, an export share of about 42 percent of production is estimated.‘Figures that make Grana Padano a real flag bearer of the made-in-Italy taste in the world,’ stresses Consortium director Stefano Berni.
Italian hard cheeses, what opportunities for growth
The leader‘s figure leaves little room for commentary beyond congratulations and jubilation. A single brief note can be addressed to the entire segment of Italian hard cheeses, which remains unique and inimitable.
Growth in value unfortunately does not often accompany growth in volume. And while it is difficult to give up the latter-to maintain productions and inductees that feed a huge user base-you cannot play on traditional market levers to push up price lists.
At Value can therefore be worked on by investing in the factors best recognized by consumAtors today. In two words, sustainability and transparency. Recalling the successful experience of the Ethical Cash-Mob, at the Festival of Sustainable Development, the following opportunities are suggested to be considered:
– sustainability, which finds maximum regulatory expression in organic production, may find an initial bulwark in the choice to exclude GMO soy from the feed used. To remove our treasures from the contamination of incendiary supply chains, (1)
– transparency-which PDOs can boast a priori, thanks to a tight regime of rules and controls (2)-can find its crowning glory in a publicblockchain system. To enable global consumers to ‘touch with smartphones‘ the real meaning of authentic, local and traditional productions. But also sustainable and controlled. (3)
Dario Dongo
Notes
(1) It is worth mentioning that Italy also leads Europe in the production of strictly non-GMO soybeans. About 1 million tons of non-GMO soybeans are processed in the Bel Paese today, of which only 45 percent have a national destiny. Although domestic raw material costs are now aligned with those of the overseas commodity, 330-335€/ton, against all logic they continue to favor GMO soybeans flooded with pesticides, whose environmental cost is further exacerbated by intercontinental transportation. Instead of working on interprofessional agreements to feed domestic demand (about 3 million tons) with local production from sustainable agriculture. See previous articles https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/idee/ogm-tra-proclama-e-realtà-il-paradosso-italiano, https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/progresso/agricoltura-sostenibile-l-abc
(2) See the previous article https://www.greatitalianfoodtrade.it/mercati/oliva-taggiasca-la-scialuppa-di-salvataggio
(3) Without neglecting the possibility of highlighting elements that we take for granted in Italy-such as decent wages and union rights in the food sector-and yet set us apart favorably from other countries. As well as working on other valuable elements, such as animal welfare and related certifications
Dario Dongo, lawyer and journalist, PhD in international food law, founder of WIISE (FARE - GIFT - Food Times) and Égalité.
