North American demand for parmigiano reggiano continues to rise. The wider picture shows these trends put the US market in the top spot in terms of Parmesan exports outside the EU, with 16.4% of all exports of the cheese destined for the United States. This places the US in fourth place overall, behind France, in first place with 19.4% of total, followed by the UK at l 17% and Germany at 16.8%. Parmigiano reggiano enjoys particular success on the US market, thanks to the fact it is a 100% natural product and the wide range of Parmesan products on offer to consumers. This success does come at a price however, as it has led to the availability of a large number of imitation products. Something which is further compounded by the fact the term “parmesan” can be freely employed under American legislation, whereas in Europe it can only be used by products approved by the Parmigiano reggiano Consortium.
Deceptive labelling is a real problem, involving a large number of European fine foods, such as Italian products Asiago, Fontina and Gorgonzola, as well as European specialties like Feta, Gouda, Gruyère and Cheddar. This is finally being tackled by retailers both in the Usa and the Eu. In light of this we would ask the EU and the Italian Government to take concerted action to protect genuine producers and, above all, to protect American consumers who have no other way of telling whether or not the product they are buying is authentic.
