Despite numerous industries continuing to face repercussions from the pandemic and cost of living crisis, some contend that these challenges have spurred strong sales in the artisanal and continental cheese categories.
This is because consumers are dining out less frequently and instead spending more on affordable luxuries to enjoy at home.1
The European Union (EU) is home to hundreds of Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) cheeses that have stood the test of time. Italy’s Conciato Romano is said to be the oldest cheese in the world, dating back to the Roman Empire.
This longstanding dedication to craft and authenticity appeals to consumers, leading to increased sales of lesser-known cheeses such as Chaource PDO, Morbier PDO, and Ossau-Iraty PDO.2
According to Patrick McGuigan, cheese writer and educator, and advisor to the ‘More Than Only Food & Drink’ campaign, the supermarkets that have refreshed their cheese offering with better quality and more artisanal examples have seen sales surge. McGuigan also cites the success of ready-made cheese boards which comprise small pieces of European PDO cheeses with their own name flag.
The selections of medal winners include relatively familiar cheeses such as Bleu d’Auvergne PDO and Saint Nectaire PDO, and also the likes of Maroilles PDO and Tomme de Brebis which are rarely seen in British supermarkets. These accessibly priced offerings have been welcomed by discerning shoppers and now British cheese makers are looking to follow the success with their own ready-made artisan collections.
Innovation driving sustainable practice
The EU aims to become the first carbon neutral continent by 2050.3 Considering the greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by the agricultural sector alone, it is an ambitious goal. However, the EU recognizes that sustainable food systems are increasingly vulnerable to environmental degradation and climate change. Urgent action must be taken to mitigate environmental stresses, safeguard food security and farmers’ livelihoods.
A key message from the EU’s Strategic Dialogue on the future of agriculture is that sustainability should be inclusive and accessible to all, ensuring that our food systems work for everyone.4 There is also a strong belief that to address the entire footprint of food, initiatives need to take in every element of the supply chain – from the farm to the leftovers.
The EU has been supporting initiatives to reduce the environmental impact of the dairy industry for a number of years. The project, LIFE The Tough Get Going (TTGG), was founded in 2017 to analyze cheese production in France and Italy, find ways to improve supply chain efficiencies, and to reduce cheese’s Product Environmental Footprint (PEF). ‘Tough’ refers to hard and semi-hard cheeses and the project specifically sets out to evaluate the lifecycle of two of the world’s biggest selling PDOs – Comté PDO from France and Grana Padano PDO from Italy.
LIFE TTGG brought together universities, start-ups, manufacturing companies, national institutions, and research organizations with the aim of improving the production efficiency of both cheeses, transferring the findings to Europe, reducing environmental impact and achieving more sustainable production and consumption.
To achieve this, software was implemented to develop a Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database that simplifies PEF calculations and to develop an Environmental Decision Support System (EDSS). The EDSS is available to producers of EU hard and semi-hard PDO cheeses made from cow’s milk to help calculate their product’s PEF and appraise their own environmental reduction.
The ‘Zero Waste, More Taste’ movement, supported by LIFE TTGG, was launched in 2015 to drive awareness of the environmental cost of waste.5 The global campaign is focused on conservation of all resources by means of responsible production, consumption, reuse and recovery of products, packaging and materials without burning, and with no discharges to land, water, or air.
EU quality schemes: Protecting more than tradition
Through its PDO and PGI quality schemes, the EU is not only protecting traditions and heritage but livelihoods, landscapes, and native breeds.
France is the EU’s second largest dairy producer and holds a significant number of PDOs for dairy products. For CNAOL, the French National Committee for Dairy Designations of Origin, the quality scheme goes beyond preserving traditions and tastes: PDOs have the capacity to keep territories alive too.
In March 2002, 46 of France’s PDO cheeses committed to the country’s sustainable dairy plan.3 The plan includes the following commitments:
- 85% of PDOs have grazing obligations in their specifications. The animals are outdoors and graze naturally, which contributes to their wellbeing.
- To take care of biodiversity, PDOs meet the obligation to have hedges, rotational grazing, and permanent grassland. Maintaining local breeds in small numbers, in a given territory, also contributes to biodiversity.
- To preserve local resources, PDOs demand of their animal feed manufacturers that they use regional or local resources, and without genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
There are many examples of PDO cheese production methods sustaining essential biodiversity but in the case of Allgäuer Bergkäse PDO in Germany, the production of the cheese – also known as Hornkäse – is preserving the lives of the cows themselves by protecting the remaining 600 German horned cows left in the world.
These unique mountain cows belong to a biodynamic cooperative who feeds them only their farmstead hay and allows the calves to remain at their mothers’ sides.
According to PDO regulations, the cheese must be handmade from raw, silage-free milk and matured for a minimum of four months. Allgäuer Bergkäse PDO is not only a perfect example of German Alpine heritage but of the importance of preserving it.
Find out more about sustainable agriculture in the EU.
Find out more about the EU’s ‘More Than Only Food and Drink’ campaign here.
References
1. Reuters. Aldi UK says shoppers trading up as inflation eases.
2. Tesco. UK cheese tastes broaden as demand for fancy upmarket varieties grows.
3. European Commission. 2050 long-term strategy.
4. Cheese dairy products. How are sustainable dairy PDOs committed to the future of consumers?
5. European Commission. Zero Waste, More Taste!