MAJOR CHANGES ON THE 2016 HORIZON FOR THE PROTECTION OF ACETO BALSAMICO DI MODENA

Change is at hand for the protection of PGI Aceto Balsamico di Modena: after two landmark sentences passed by German courts at the end of 2015, the new year sees the Consortium looking optimistically to the future. It also hopes that other lawsuits currently underway, for which sentencing is due by summer, will also find a positive outcome. The sector of Aceto Balsamico di Modena sees production of over 95 million litres, of which over 90% is exported to 120 countries worldwide, with a production turnover in excess of 450 million Euro, and over 700 in consumption. The economic impact affects a relatively limited area, namely that of the Province of Modena: over 70 producers and 250 businesses, for a total of around 600 employees, all endowed with knowledge which in some cases is handed down through the generations.

It is a tradition that has attracted many attempts at imitation, by virtue of the unique quality of this iconic Italian-made food product. Over the course of the last year, it has made major progress in the field of protection; a number of episodes of unfair conduct by companies taking advantage of the “Italian-sounding” effect to encourage consumers to buy counterfeit products have now been acknowledged as unlawful. Two important judgments in this respect were passed in Germany, by the Courts of Cologne and Mannheim, setting a historic precedent for protection in the EC marketplace.

“The effects on the European market created by the positive outcome of the lawsuits which concluded in 2015,” explained the General Manager of the Consortium for the Protection of PGI Aceto Balsamico di Modena, Federico Desimoni, “will above all be felt in the new year which has just started, and will see major changes on this front. Indeed the new situation which has been created might well see a number of products which imitate and evoke Aceto Balsamico di Modena being eliminated from the market. This would open up new marketing possibilities, and as a result other sales potential as well. This will promote accurate perception of our product, allowing us to convey new messages that can only help the culture of PGI Aceto Balsamico di Modena to grow.”

In the light of these facts, the MD of the PGI Aceto Balsamico di Modena Protection Consortium also took the opportunity to examine the international role of Italy’s most exported food product: “We feel there are good prospects both in terms of quality and quantity: our product is increasingly being used worldwide, and the demand is for increasing quality. We also expect to see an increase in the already very high export rate in 2016. In 2015 it was already in excess of 90% of production, totalling 95 million litres, for an estimated turnover of 700 million Euro in consumption. This entitles us to drink a positive and proactive toast to the new year.”

Press Office Marte Comunicazione snc di Marzia Morganti Tempestini & C. Tel 335 6130800 Email marzia.morganti@gmail.com www.martecomunicazione.com