PDO economy and Consorzi di tutela, how Italia wants to consolidate its leadership in Europe

The European Expo of PDOs and PGIs is born, a travelling itinerary with the objective of promoting and enhancing the European Union's excellent agrifood products with geographical indications. The announcement was made at TuttoFood. "It is a strategic initiative that deserves to be supported and developed in synergy with the Action Plan announced by Commissioner Hansen," said Paolo De Castro, president of Nomisma, speaking at the convention on the DOP Economy in Milan, on the initiative that will see the collaboration of Arepo (Association of European Regions for Products of Origin) and Origin (which groups together Italian DOP and IGP consortia). 

'The new European regulation not only introduces a single, more solid legislative framework,' De Castro explained, 'but above all marks a decisive cultural paradigm shift. Geographical indications are in fact an extraordinary driver of economic development because they enhance the value of products, strengthen supply chains, and also guarantee greater value to raw materials, recognising a fair income for producers'.

Our country, in fact, on quality EU-branded food products sets the standard abroad. According to the Ismea-Qualivita 2025 report, the value of Italian IG products has reached 20.7 billion with 12.3 billion obtained from exports. "The objective," explains Mauro Rosati, director of the Qualivita Foundation, which has been monitoring the universe of certified Italian food products together with Ismea for 24 years, "is to make Italia a European hub for PDO and PGI products. We can show other European producers not only how quality products are made but also how they are developed'.

In the background there is the Action Plan on Geographical Indications announced for 2027 by the EU Commissioner for Agriculture, Cristophe Hansen, which should trace what has already been achieved recently with organic farming. "There is, however, a fundamental difference with the Italian approach,' continues Rosati, who recently published the book 'La filosofia della Dop Economy'. 'Brussels believes that this model can be spread through school canteens and public tenders. Which are all very well. But Italian PDOs and PGIs have become a benchmark mainly thanks to the system of protection consortia. These are instruments for aggregating producers, but over time they have been able to have a profound impact on the development of the designations'.

In fact, if at the beginning of the PDO epic - the regulations establishing the EU marks date back to 1992 - the powers of the consortia were only those of protection and promotion of the products, with the subsequent reforms these powers have been strengthened. With the first 'Quality Package' of 2012, protection powers were extended but, above all, with the rrevision of the regulations in 2024, management and supply planning powers were added. Another important chapter on which Italia has led the way.