From Russkiy Parmesan to Parmesano di Colombia, Italy to the war of fake brands

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The victory of Parmigiano Reggiano arrives during the second day of the 2023 edition of Cibus and it’s a celebration, at the consortium’s stand: the news has just arrived from South America that the sixth attempt by the Alpina group to register the “Parmesano” brand has been stopped in Colombia. With decision 12177/2023, the Superintendency of Industry and Commerce not only denied the registration of the “Alpina Parmesano Snack” trademark, but above all it issued an important provision for the protection of Geographical Indications in the Latin American country on the basis of the concept of Protected Designation of Origin. Merit of the free trade agreement concluded by the EU with Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, say the Consortium, which made it possible to recognize the protection of the PDO Parmigiano Reggiano in the Andean countries.

The Superintendency considered that the protection of PDOs is broad enough to ensure that the impediment to registration is not limited to the simple literal reproduction of their name, but also to any type of imitation, even if only evocative. It was also established that the trademark in question was potentially misleading since, due to the reputation of Parmigiano Reggiano on the food market, the inclusion of the word “Parmesano” could mislead consumers as to the origin and characteristics of Alpina’s product. «The umpteenth attempt to unduly take advantage of the notoriety, quality and characteristics of excellence of the most loved and most awarded PDO in the world was therefore stopped – comments the Consortium – which can be produced exclusively in its area of ​​origin, which includes the provinces of Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Mantua to the right of the river Po and Bologna to the left of the river Reno».

The Consortium estimates that the turnover of fake Parmesan outside the European Union is 2 billion euros, around 200,000 tons of product, or more than 3 times the volume of Parmigiano Reggiano exported. Among the countries where Parmigiano is copied is Russia: Russkiy Parmesan, says Coldiretti, is produced in the Stavropol area and on the producers’ website it says that «it is an alternative to Parmigiano Reggiano, made with pasteurized milk matured 12 months”. Just this morning at Cibus, the confederation of farmers is dedicating a real exhibition to fakes made in Russia: alongside Parmesan, in the cheese section there are Montasio, Pecorino, mozzarella, ricotta, mascarpone and robiola, all strictly authorised. In the collection of Italian sounding in Russian sauce, Coldiretti also exhibits different types of Milano salami, a Tuscan salad, packs of “Buona Italia” and “Sono Bello Quattro CHEESE” pizza.

Even before the war in Ukraine, already with the embargo imposed by the EU in 2014 for the annexation of Crimea, a flourishing production of imitations of Made in Italy at the table spread in Russia which replaced the tricolor exports with a cost per our country, Coldiretti estimates, of 250 million euros a year. «In many areas, from the Urals to the Sverdlovsk region, factories have sprung up specializing in the production of imitation Italian cheeses and cured meats to replace the original ones – denounces the association – these are plants for processing milk and meat to cover the demand for hard and soft cheeses as well as cured meats that was once satisfied by Italian agri-food companies». The Russian Union of Dairy Producers, Soyuzmoloko, has estimated that Russian cheese production has quadrupled to 47 billion rubles ($600 million), of which a share is represented by Italian analogues.

According to Coldiretti, today the value of Made in Italy food counterfeiting in the world amounts to 120 billion, with the result that over two out of three tricolor agri-food products have no productive and employment link with our country. “With a clear stop to international food counterfeiting – claims the president of Coldiretti, Ettore Prandini – as many as 300,000 jobs could be created in Italy”.