In the European agri-food sector, the initiative "DOP Excellence: an entirely European savoir faire" emerges, a synergistic collaboration between the Garda Doc, Salame Varzi DOP and Prosciutto Crudo di Cuneo DOP consortia and co-financed by the European Union. This communication project not only reflects a commitment to the excellence of products with a protected designation of origin, but also aims to disseminate and enhance Europe's distinctive agri-food heritage.
The main objectives of this project include increasing the international notoriety of high quality European products distinguished by the DOP brand and expanding the knowledge and competitiveness of four jewels of the European agri-food heritage: Garda DOP wines, Salame di Varzi DOP , Cuneo DOP ham and Montasio DOP cheese.
The duration of the initiative is three years, starting from March 2024 and involves the implementation of customized strategies focused on the markets of Italy, Germany and Austria. The planned actions range in fact from public relations to collaboration at selected B2B fairs to study trips, up to direct promotions in points of sale. A wide range of initiatives designed to promote the appreciation and renaissance of European PDO excellences.
The DOP and PGI brands not only protect the genuineness and authenticity of the products, but also represent a beacon of quality and reliability for consumers. The PDO brand , Protected Designation of Origin, is attributed to those products closely linked to their territory of origin, in which the quality and characteristics depend essentially or exclusively on the geographical environment, including its natural and human factors. The production specification which establishes precise rules for the production, transformation and processing phases, guarantees that each step takes place within a defined geographical area.
At the same time, the PGI brand, Protected Geographical Indication, distinguishes products originating from a specific area, whose distinctive quality traits are directly linked to the geographical origin. At least one of the production phases must take place in the indicated area, thus ensuring a tangible link with the territory.
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Our journey focuses on Montasio DOP cheese. The origin of the name derives from the Montasio Plateau of the same name, located in the peaks of the Julian Alps. It is a long history of centuries-old wisdom and industriousness that takes us back to the wisdom of the Benedictine friars: it was they who refined the techniques used in the mountain pastures by shepherds, to preserve a fresh product such as milk over time. The name of this product appears for the first time on 22 August 1773 in a price list kept in the Guarneriana library of San Daniele del Friuli, in which the abbots of Moggio mention the "true Montasio cheese" among the most prized of the time. Precious precisely for the fact that it transformed milk, by its nature intended for consumption within a few days, into a product that could last for months.
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Important role of the Consortium for the Protection of Montasio Cheeses established on 20 November 1984 by the will of producers, breeders and seasoners with the aim of wanting to defend and protect the production and trade of Montasio cheese, the use of its denomination and therefore guarantee respect for traditional processing, safeguarding its typicality and its peculiar characteristics. In this sense, the choice to collaborate with CSQA , the leading certification body in the field of Geographical Indications, is also confirmed, in order to ensure controls in the name of certified quality, as a maximum guarantee to the consumer of the values expressed by the territory of origin and from the nutritional values of the PDO product. Its active research and development policy remains constant in order to consolidate the brand, protect typicality, increase product quality and strengthen the economic fundamentals of the entire supply chain for economic and environmental sustainability.
Source: consultantdelgusto.it