ITALY - UK PARTNERSHIP

PARTNERSHIP | Autumn 2019 08 Marchio Ospitalità Italiana Protecting “Made in Italy” against the Italian Sounding C ooking is about sincerity, balance and most of all about wanting to give something to someone else”: this is how Giorgio Locatelli, one of the most famous Italian chefs in London, describes the art of cooking. Cuisine has always had a prominent role in Italian society, being at the heart of human relationships and being a synonym of high quality of life. Over time, Italian cuisine became the symbol of hospitality and it became important to protect it from forgery in order to safeguard its history, culture, quality and authenticity. When, in the 19th century, the first Italian emigrants started opening restaurants, cafes and deli abroad, it was impossible for them to import raw materials from Italy, so they started producing their own products labelling them with the names of the original ones. This is the so-called Italian Sounding: products resembling Italian ones, because of the name, the colours or the packaging, but that are produced in other countries. This phenomenon is damaging Italian productions: sales of Italian sounding products worldwide reached the value of €100bn and, especially in the UK, the products that are mainly affected are Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and olive oil. THE AIMOF THE PROJECT AND THE REQUIREMENTS As a leading country for food and wine excellences, Italy has over 300 agri-food products and 500 wines recognised as Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical indication by the European Union, which everyday are subject to imitation all over the world. In order to face this dangerous phenomenon and encourage the usage and consumption of authentic Made-in-Italy products, Unioncamere (the association of the Chambers of Commerce in Italy), with the support of the National Institute for Tourism Researches – IS.NA.R.T., launched the project “Marchio Ospitalità Italiana - Italian restaurants around the world”, which is addressed to the qualitative standards of the Italian hospitality. The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the UK (ICCIUK) has now relaunched the project, which had been put on hold for a few years. In order to obtain the “Marchio Ospitalità Italiana” certification, restaurants must respect several requirements, including the products’ origin (particularly regarding wine and extra virgin olive oil), the consistency of traditional recipes, proven experience of the kitchen staff, the mise en place, and more generally identity and atmosphere of the restaurant. The restaurants that renewed the certification or gained it for the first time will be awarded at Welcome Italia 2019, the Italian food and wine fair organised by the ICCIUK in London. “Marchio Ospitalità Italiana” is valid for 1 year and must be renewed if the restaurateur wants to be part of this exclusive club for the following year. The main goal of the project is to distinguish real Italian restaurants from non-authentic ones, and to build a strong network of restaurants for projects and events to promote the true Italian hospitality. ·