Indications of geographical origin play a central role in the cheese trade, a new study shows. A protected name such as “Roquefort” allows a higher price increase than a composite name such as “Gouda Holland”, which does not protect the “Gouda” type of cheese.
Protected geographical indications are an important marketing tool for the agri-food sector, particularly in Europe. Thus, “Gruyère” or “Roquefort” are more valuable than “Gouda Holland” or “Raclette du Valais”, according to a press release published Monday by the Confederation’s competence center for agricultural research Agroscope.
The difference: for Roquefort and Gruyère, it is the name as such which is protected, whereas for “Gouda Holland” or “Raclette du Valais”, only the complete name is protected and not the type of cheese itself.
No more cheese competitions
According to the Agroscope study published in the specialist journal “Agribusiness”, imports and exports of Swiss cheese show that cheeses benefiting from a fully protected indication of source obtain a price increase of around 5% compared to comparable products.
For cheeses whose name is only partially protected, the researchers did not observe a statistically significant price increase.
For Agroscope, this is because they are in competition with similar-sounding imitations. Thus, a “Holland gouda” also competes on price with a “gouda” of another origin.
The product, a determining factor
Overall, the protection of the name only explains a small part of the price, also notes Agroscope. Rather, the type of product – for example blue cheese, soft cheese or herb cheese – is seen to be the main factor determining import and export prices.
Therefore, before going into the detail of geographical indications and brands, a quality strategy should rather focus on the processing and high-end refining of products.
Swiss
