Around 300 tons of asparago verde di Altedo Igp are produced every year. At the convention held on 26th May 2017, Luciano Trentini stressed the importance of denominations of origin. "Pgi and Pdo marks are appreciated by consumers though, except for apples from Alto Adige, the ten most popular products are of animal origin."
Gianni Cesari and Luciano Trentini
These ten products hold 81% of the Pgi and Pdo markets, while the rest share the remaining 19%. "Consumers read labels more now, so marks are becoming increasingly important. We still need 60 thousand hectares of asparagus to meet future demands on a global level, so there is a lot of work to be done. Unfortunately, operators are not very active."
Roberto Ventura, from Regione Emilia Romagna, illustrated existing regulations. There are 293 Pdo and Pgi products registered in Italy. "They have the same treatment on an international level. Sometimes, identifying the origin helps in situations of crisis and, generally, contributes to being more successful abroad."
Igor Bombardi from Check Fruit explained that "we are the ones who come and check whether you are in line with regulations. We know its tedious, but it means the products are guaranteed."
Group photo in Altedo
Andrea Galli mentioned the intricate procedure to obtain the certification for Consorzio della Patata di Bologna Dop - "sometimes bureaucracy is just too complicated."
Leo Bertozzi, from Associazione italiana consorzi identificazioni geografiche, talked about the role and function of consortia. "In Italy, we always make things complicated. For example, in addition to consortia, there are also associations such as Afidop, Isit, Federdop, Federdoc. Aicig includes a lot of them. On an international level, there's www.origin-gi.com. Aicig has 64 members."
Oreste Gerini, general manager of Icqr for the prevention against food and agricultural fraud, talked about the latest changes in regulations. "Pgi and Pdo products are part of the European cultural heritage, just like the leaning tower of Pisa. We work with Alibaba and Google to counter online fraud. When they receive a report, the ranking of a fraudulent company goes down."
Mario Montanari from Regione Emilia Romagna concluded by saying that "in our region, Pdo and Pgi products are very important. We try to support the Consortia by raising consumer awareness."
Contacts:
Consorzio di Tutela dell'Asparago Verde di Altedo
Piazza Unità d'Italia 2
40051 Malalbergo (BO)
Tel.: (+39) 051 6620210
Fax: (+39) 051 872454
Email: [email protected]
Web: www.asparagoverde-altedo.it
