Stronger than counterfeiting, stronger than duties, Grana Padano PDO cheese is confirmed as the most consumed PDO product in the world. And its production continues to grow. This year up to 5,182,585 wheels were produced with an estimated increase of +5.06% (149,297 more wheels compared to 2018) by the end of 2019. Exports, with over 2 million wheels, represent 41% of the total turnover growing by +5.24% on 2018. Germany is confirmed as the leading foreign market with a total of 517,000 wheels.
“This growth level is significant considering that in the last ten years the positive trend has exceeded 22.5%, equal to an annual increase of 2% – says the president of Grana Padano PDO Consortium, Nicola Cesare Baldrighi (in the picture above)-. Consumption levels are even more valuable if we take into account the context in which the result was achieved. On the one hand the period of generalized crisis in every sector, and on the other hand international decisions, first and foremost those of U.S. tariffs, which are extremely penalizing for us”.
GRANA PADANO PDO FIGHTING DUTIES AND COUNTERFEITING
In order to get real protection from counterfeiting and duties, the proposal put forward by the Consortium is clear: “We are asking – says the director of the Consortium, Stefano Berni – for a measure that guarantees the consumer to make an informed choice about what he or she is buying. On the shelves of large-scale retailers, products with a Denomination of Origin should always be clearly and unequivocally separated from their ‘similar’ counterparts, just as the menus of restaurants should clearly indicate whether products with a Denomination of Origin or different counterparts are used. Suffice it to say that researches commissioned by the Consortium on consumption trends shows that as many as 2 out of 3 consumers are willing to spend more to get information on what they are buying.”