After a four-year process with strong U.S. oppositions, Chile recognizes the denomination of origin of Gorgonzola cheese as 100% Italian. The milestone was celebrated at the Italian Embassy with an official ceremony in which the director of the National Institute for Industrial Property (Inapi), Loreto Bresky, presented the official title of recognition to the Italian Ambassador to Chile, Valeria Biagiotti, in the presence of the Consortium for the Protection of Gorgonzola Cheese, represented by its lawyers in Chile (Studio Villaseca Abogados).
Ambassador Biagiotti emphasized, “The recognition of the denomination of origin of Gorgonzola cheese as 100% Italian represents a further step in the enormous effort that Italian authorities and companies make every day all over the world against the Italian Sounding” and for the protection of typical Italian denominations.”
INAPI’s national director Loreto Bresky said she was pleased with the recognition and wanted to highlight the work of the Consortium for the Protection of Gorgonzola Cheese, “which obtained the long-awaited protection after following the procedure prescribed by INAPI. This means that every time a local consumer sees this product on a supermarket shelf, they can be sure of its Italian origin.”
From Italy, Antonio Auricchio, President of the Consortium for the Protection of Gorgonzola Cheese, welcomed the important recognition, which brings to 95 the number of countries in which Gorgonzola Pdo has gained legal recognition: “I have always maintained that we must not back off an inch from our quality, which has made us an excellence and is our best calling card, but the role of the Consortium must also be to support our companies abroad where we suffer unfair competition from similar ones. This recognition in Chile is an important victory against U.S. dairy producers and is an achievement that can further pave the way for our companies in a very interesting market. We are growing throughout South America, Brazil in the lead, but also Colombia and precisely in Chile, where the great wine tradition can only marry perfectly with a unique dairy product like Gorgonzola. Identity, sense of belonging, terroir, but also people and expertise make up the identity of all our Italian products. This registration is therefore not only a legal title, but is the proper recognition and defense, in any country in the world, of the tradition and history of our very Italian Gorgonzola.“
The legal process had started in 2018 when the Consortium applied for recognition of the “Gorgonzola” designation of origin in Chile. The U.S. Diary Export Council, the organization that brings together U.S. dairy producers, had opposed the request, arguing that the name “Gorgonzola” was only a generic indication to distinguish a type of blue cheese. However, the analysis carried out by the Chilean Ministry of Agriculture on the market for Gorgonzola cheese in Chile showed that only a very small volume of blue cheese from the United States was entering Chile and, moreover, there was no information on Chilean domestic production or export of that cheese thus proving that “Gorgonzola” could not be considered a generic name. Earlier this year, the National Institute for Industrial Property (Inapi), therefore, ruled that only the renowned cheese produced in the areas specified in the production specifications in the Lombardy and Piedmont regions of Italy can be sold under the name Gorgonzola in Chile.
In addition to the Ambassador of Italy, Valeria Biagiotti, and the Head of the Trademark Office, Loreto Bresky, the ceremony was also attended by a representative of the Undersecretary for International Economic Relations, the President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Chile, Luciano Marocchino, its Secretary General, Olivier Lunghini, and some merchants who are members of the Chamber of Commerce.
