Taggia. «It was the last resort, now we will have it finally the possibility of identifying our product on the Italian and foreign markets, protecting a brand that has great strength, recognized and highly appreciated by consumers. Of course, the main road should have been to pursue the recognition of the PDO a long time ago, unfortunately the territory did not have the unity to carry it forward”.
Franco Boeri Roi, producer and oil mill operator from Badalucco in the Argentina valley (his oil and pickled olives arrive in many parts of the world, including the most renowned restaurants, as well as in the Eataly circuit) comments thus, looking at the prospects, the ministry’s approval of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to the PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) of Ligurian Taggiasca olives. Now the word passes to the European Commission for final approval.
Why is the result so important? Because in recent years the production of Taggiasca quality table olives – both in the traditional version with stones in brine and in the pitted version in oil, now by far the favorite among consumers – has grew dramatically, leading many companies in Liguria and Imperia in particular to absorb 50 percent of the olives processed, while the other half is transformed into oil, which does not fall within this PGI lot and already has its protection with the Ligurian Riviera PDO ( from the border to La Spezia) with the sub-areas Riviera dei Fiori, Riviera di Ponente and Riviera di Levante. A two hundred gram jar of Taggiasca in brine is sold on the shelves for 6-7 euros, and allows you to exploit 100 percent of the olive, while the oil represents 20 percent, that is, to make one liter you need five kilos of olives.
In short, the table olive is becoming a driving force and very profitable. The fact is that other areas of Italy have also thrown themselves into the cultivation of the Taggiasca variety, starting with Puglia, with infinitely higher quantities and infinitely lower costs than those incurred on the difficult Ligurian hill and mountain areas.
«Although Liguria represents less than 1% of the national market in terms of oil production – observes Franco Boeri –, the Taggiasca variety is by far the most recognized by consumers, both Italian and foreign, especially with regards to olives table, which with the IGP brand “taggiasche liguri” on the jar will be immediately identifiable as coming from our territory”.
And therefore distinguishable from a non-Ligurian Taggiasca, for example from Puglia, which cannot have the same organoleptic characteristics, changing the terroir.
Stefano Roggeroneolive grower and regional president of the CIA (Italian Farmers Confederation), underlines that «we will not have the PDO, but the one we have turned to and which we are obtaining is an armored PGI, because it requires satisfying all three conditions envisaged, i.e. production, processing and packaging, in the Ligurian territory”.
The PGI’s request was brought forward by Committee chaired by Carlo Siffredi formed by qualified Ligurian companies and supported by the Region. «After twenty years – highlight the President of the Region Giovanni Toti and the Vice President and Councilor for Agriculture Alessandro Piana – we have reached a historic goal for the relaunch of the sector». A result that comes in another difficult year, on the other hand, for the production of Ligurian oil: not as disastrous as 2021 and 2022, but with a quantity still expected to be 20 thousand quintals, less than half of the best seasons, due climate change and drought in particular.
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