The Central Inspectorate for the Protection of Quality and Fraud Repression (ICQRF) of agri-food products of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies has renewed, with a Ministerial Decree, the authorization for CSQA to carry out checks for the Protected Geographical Indication Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco.
Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI is an excellent symbol of the rich basket of protected products of the Veneto region , the first region for PDO PGI economic impact, which boasts 89 products with Geographical Indication - of which 36 agri-food and 53 wine - for an economic value of 3,699 million euros (Ismea-Qualivita 2021 Report Data).
Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco IGP, which in the five-year period 2017-2022 recorded a positive production trend of +88%, contributes to the certified regional basket with about 570 tons of IGP product, for a value of almost 2 million euros, the result of the work of 10 operators (Sources: Consorzio Tutela Radicchio Rosso di Treviso and Variegato di Castelfranco; Ismea-Qualivita).
Since 1996, the Consorzio Tutela Radicchio Rosso di Treviso e Variegato di Castelfranco has been protecting and enhancing this excellence with wide-ranging planning that over the last few years has seen it engaged above all in supporting the development of products with greater service content and 4th range products ; in this context, many activities have been carried out to support companies that have decided to enhance the link with the production area by working, on the one hand, on the identity component and, on the other, on the changing needs of the consumer and therefore both on the possibility of finding portions of certified "single head" product and on a mix of IGP radicchio already washed and ready for consumption at the table.
The decision to confirm CSQA is dictated by the desire to confirm the seriousness of the work in the field of certification , as stated by Andrea Tosatto, President of the Protection Consortium: "With CSQA we have built a relationship of fruitful collaboration, while respecting the different roles that everyone covers and which are clear from a regulatory point of view. In particular, as a Consortium we are interested in the development of the production chain and therefore we are committed to developing volumes in the interest of our membership base as well. Furthermore, the consumer is always at the center of the protection activity and must be guaranteed in his choices of quality and identity: therefore certainty of origin and respect for production regulations. This is why it is important to rely on an independent third party such as CSQA”.
“Our confirmation as control body of the PGI Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco - underlines Pietro Bonato, Director General and CEO of CSQA - is the result of an important synergistic and profitable work on the front of controls, aimed at guaranteeing and protecting a product that is an expression of the land and of Veneto fruit and vegetable production. An excellence of Made in Italy that records significant growth, confirming its recognition on the markets and appreciation by consumers. We are therefore proud to continue on this path and of the renewed trust in CSQA in terms of valorising typical products".
Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI confirms the value of the PDO PGI product portfolio certified by CSQA, which currently includes 72 Geographical Indications: a figure that underlines the desire to increasingly accompany the sustainable development of quality agri-food supply chains, a symbol of Made in Italy and the vocation of the territories.