Sunday, April 10, 2011

Regional Products


Living in Paris has been great. I’ve been exposed to many wonderful sights and I have also eaten delicious food. I was amazed on the variety of regional products in the market. The French are very meticulous when it comes to giving their products a label. They like to give credit to the place of origin where the product was manufactured, and they do it well through the Apellation d’Origine Controlée, which is a rigorous labeling process that the French use for certification granted to certain French geographical indications like wine, cheeses and butters and other agricultural products. The government office of Institut National des Apellations d’Origine controls this process.  
To my understanding this process was created to obtain the best quality of products by applying regulations and to promote consumption of such products, which derived from the best of quality according to the region in which they were produced. The Norman butter has been known to be the preferred butter through the centuries.  It is known that the milk produced in this region gives the butter its unique taste. Just like Champagne from Champagne, or Roquefort cheese from Roquefort there are many other French products that are produce in certain geographical areas and whom the AOC gives them the right to label the product as theirs. In the states consumers don’t really see much of regional labeling, we simply label our products “MADE IN THE USA”, the French do it differently. Those who love butter will go to Normandie for the butter; those who love Champagne will visit Champagne and so on and so forth. This tactic allows the consumer to experience the best of France and also boosts the town’s economy by attracting tourists with their regional products. 

No comments:

Post a Comment