FOR EUROPEAN CONSUMERS "PARMESAN" IS SYNONYMOUS WITH ITALY

This is the outcome of an interesting survey assigned to a French institute by the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium and presented at Brussels

Reggio Emilia, 7 October 2005 - An overwhelming majority of Europeans spontaneously associates the term "Parmesan" with Italy. Indeed, to the question "Which words or expressions come to mind if we say Parmesan?", the answer "Italy" was readily provided by no less than 96% of Germans, 92% of French nationals, 90% of the English, 89% of Swedes, 85% of Belgians, 80% of Spaniards and 51% of Estonians.
This is the interesting result of a survey into the perception of the term "Parmesan" amongst European consumers, ordered by the Parmigiano-Reggiano Cheese Consortium to the French TNS Sofres Institute. The study has recently been presented at the headquarters of the Italian Trade Commission in Brussels by the consortium's chairman, Andrea Bonati, and its director, Leo Bertozzi, who met with the heads of the European Commission. Laura La Torre, director general of the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry Policies was also present, along with representatives from the Cooperative Associations, Coldiretti (Italian farmers association) and Assolatte (association of dairy businesses).
"The aim of this survey", declared the Consortium's chairman, Andrea Bonati "was to highlight the fact that, given the widely-held perception in the main European countries, improper use of the term "Parmesan" for the sale of cheeses other than Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese should be considered an abuse that leads to confusion and misleads consumers. In particular, Germany is the only European country that continues to maintain that it is lawful to use this term for the production and sale of cheeses that are in no way connected with Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano. This stance has led the European Commission to open violation proceedings against Germany.
The meeting held in Brussels to present the results of the survey", Bonati concluded, "had a positive outcome, and also represented an important step towards defending our Designation of Origin, guaranteeing the producers and above all clarifying matters for European consumers".