Modica PGI Chocolate , in addition to being the first and only chocolate in the world with a denomination , in 2018 was among the first Made in Italy products to adopt the State seal and the first to be equipped with the Digital Passport , which now introduces the QR Code as a solution to improve the consumer experience.The digital passport project was created by the partnership between Poligrafico and Zecca dello Stato, CSQA and Fondazione Qualivita and is a system that tracks the information heritage on the history of the IG product and directly connects the supply chain and the consumer.
Based on the wine traceability model (bands), it provides a personalized label with graphics that evoke the specificity of the product and created with security elements that can be traced back to the printing of banknote paper.
The label is linked to all the information assets made available by the certifying body, the producers and all the operators involved and can be queried via the Trust your Food app , which also allows direct producer-consumer contact and the consultation of value-added insights on the product itself by combining anti-counterfeiting tools, for traceability and for communicating the certified quality.
The QR Code introduced today replaces data matrix technology , and represents an evolution in the use of information on product authenticity and traceability.
The stamp , added Francesco Soro, CEO of the Istituto Poligrafico e Zecca dello Stato , “guarantees the traceability and uniqueness of the product, as well as being a marketing and communication tool.
With Minister Lollobrigida – he said – we are discussing how even food, on a voluntary basis, can have the emblem of the Republic on the product.
This strengthens protections because counterfeiting is a crime, but counterfeiting of the emblem of the Republic is also an aggravated crime."
Nino Scivoletto, president of the Protection Consortium, explained that the next goal is " to become the first PGI chocolate made with PGI cocoa beans , thanks to a series of agreements with the two largest cocoa producing countries: the Ivory Coast and Indonesia.
In the first case, the Indonesian authorities have already submitted a request to the European Commission for PGI recognition for cocoa from the Berau district and we hope to be able to have the first Modica PGI chocolate from certified beans in 2025" .
Furthermore, the Consortium is preparing to start a production plant in Modica where it will have a bitter paste processed in Sicily and, thanks to a series of meetings with companies in the Ivory Coast, the leading producer country, have a supply of cocoa directly for the consortium.
Finally, “we have a project underway with Coprob Italia Zuccheri – concluded Scivoletto – to produce Modica PGI chocolate with 100% Italian raw beet sugar ”.
In 2024, the PGI Modica Chocolate produced 22.3 million chocolate bars, 87% of which, equal to 18.2 million, were produced by the 15 companies belonging to the Protection Consortium, an organization officially recognized by Masaf .