all about PFNs What is the protected food name scheme?

The Protected Food Name (PFN) scheme was established by the European Union to maintain and enhance one of Europe’s great cultural assets: the diversity of its traditional food and drink products. By doing so it aimed to protect employment in farming and related industries.

While Britain has only recently caught on to the value of its own local and regional foods, many regional specialities from Continental Europe – from cheeses to nougats, from air-dried hams to ciders – have for decades enjoyed a valuable cachet in global markets worldwide. One result of this is that other producers both in Europe and further afield have been able to exploit that reputation with similar, often cheaper copycat products. This creates two problems for producers of the ‘real thing’: it damages their sales and, in the case of inferior copies, can also undermine the standing of the true product.

So in 1992, the EU established the PFN scheme, which it loosely modelled on existing national systems such as the French AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) and the Italian DOC (Denominazione d’Origine Controllata).

The PFN system created levels of legal protection for which individual producers, or groups of producers, could apply:

• Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

• Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

• Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG).

These are explained in more detail below, but broadly speaking, PDO and PGI apply to products whose special qualities relate to terroir – that is, where they are made. TSG status relates more closely to particular production methods.

In each case, to gain PFN protection the producer(s) must go through a rigorous and time-consuming application process. The key element is drawing up a product specification spelling out the detail of how and where the product must be produced. This has to be vetted by national and EU authorities, but once approved it provides the basis for legal protection under the scheme. Elements included in the specification include:

• The name of the product and its description (including raw materials and its physical, chemical, microbiological or taste characteristics.

• Evidence that the product originates in a particular geographical area and, crucially, details of how the product and its terroir are linked.

• Details of any special local or regional production methods.

The Three Symbols

The Protected Food Names scheme recognises three different levels of regional or national provenance. Two of these are based on territory – that is, the source of ingredients or the region in which the product is made. The other is based on methods of production – techniques that are rooted in tradition within a particular region or country.

Here are the three logos to look out for:

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

The product must have been produced and processed and prepared in the designated geographical area. The quality or characteristics of the product are essentially due to the terrain of the area in which it is produced and the abilities of producers in that area.

One example is Shetland Lamb: only lamb born, raised and slaughtered in the Shetlands and meeting specific quality requirements can carry the Shetland Lamb name and the PDO logo. Similarly, only cheese from the designated area of Serra da Estrella in Portugal can carry the name Queijo Serra da Estrella and the PDO logo.

Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

The product must be produced or processed or prepared in the designated geographical area. It will have specific characteristics or a special reputation linking it to the given area, and at least one stage of production must be carried out in that area. Unlike PDO products, however, raw materials may come from another region.

Examples range from Arancia Rossa di Sicilia (Sicilian blood oranges) to Dortmunder Bier (beer from the Dortmund area of Germany).

Traditional Speciality Guaranteed (TSG)

Only a genuinely traditional product can apply for TSG status.

The product will have distinctive features linked to the use of traditional raw materials or stemming from traditional methods or production or processing.

Examples include Traditional Farmfresh Turkey from the UK – birds raised slowly using a specific feed and housing regime and slaughtered and hung to a particular specification. Others include Kalakukko bread from Finland and Jamón Serrano from Spain.

Benefits To Producers

For producers of traditional local foods, the PFN scheme offers substantial protection. It gives exclusive rights to use the registered name and prevents others from misusing or otherwise exploiting the protected name by, for example, using the expressions ‘style’, ‘type’ or ‘method’ to suggest similarity.

According to the European Commission, the marketing benefits of PFN status can directly improve profits. There’s a shortage of current research, but data from 2002 suggested that cheese with PFN status could claim a 30% price premium over competitors. Perhaps this is why Waitrose has chosen to highlight PFN products so clearly on its deli counters.

Benefits To Retailers And Caterers

At a time when interest in ‘real’ and regionallyproduced foods is booming, the PDO, PGI and TSG logos have huge potential in specialist stores and restaurants. They provide a guarantee of the very thing that many consumers now seek – provenance – and in doing so provide an instant talking point for both retailer and chef.

With the number of UK PFN products alone set to double within the next year or so, and with bodies such as the Guild of Fine Food and the Craft Guild of Chefs helping to raise awareness, consumer recognition of the logo can only increase.

And if PFN status means a premium price for producers, then retailers and restaurants too can benefit from a higher margin on these products.

HOW MANY PFNs ARE THERE?

There are now over 700 products with PFN protection Europe-wide. And, in a move to overcome objections of ‘protectionism’ lodged with the World Trade Organisation, products from outside the EU are also being permitted to apply for PFN status.

Britain has been slow to adopt the scheme, and there are fewer than 40 products with PFN status so far, all of which are listed and described in this Artisan Special Report. However, around 40 more are currently grinding through the application process, which means that the number of producers promoting their PDO, PGI or TSG status is set to rise rapidly.