Even the giant Google invests on Italian PDO and PGI labelled products that represent the excellence of the Italian agri-food tradition and express a very special bond with the territories of origin.
It’s not necessarily true, however, that the concept of tradition is in contrast with that of innovation and modernity. The project created by Google, and presented today, Tuesday, January 21, at 11.30 a.m. in Rome – Spazio Nazionale Eventi, shows that it’s possible to expertly combine tradition and modernity, in order to enhance agri-food products of certified quality.
“The challenge for the future of Made in Italy”, says Carlo D’Asaro Biondo, President for South and East Europe, the Middle East and Africa of Google, “is to open further to international markets, to become an even more important driving force of economic growth for the country. Google believes that going digital could play an important role in this process and has decided to actively contribute to promoting Italian excellence in the world, starting from handicrafts and food processing. ‘Made in Italy: digital excellence’ is an initiative conceived and developed especially for Italy, which we hope will help to increase the ability of Italian firms to export and further promote the culture of ‘Made in Italy’ in the world”.
The carefully created digital-virtual gallery allows a wide and effective dissemination of the overall image of Italian PDO and PGI products, and also confirms that the concept of globalization can take an entirely positive connotation, if understood correctly and if paired to the possibility of spreading the deep value expressed by food products tied to the territories. Even in this case, therefore, “globalisation” and “localisation” take on meanings that are quite reconcilable, though apparently distant.
“We must not confuse”, says Giuseppe Liberatore, President of Aicig “tradition with a niche product. PDO and PGI products are of utmost socio-economic importance and drive the entire national agri-food sector, especially abroad. The investment made by Google shows the role played by producers and the associations that represent them. It is then up to the consortia and institutions to implement appropriate actions to protect our designations from acts of unfair competition and counterfeiting around the world. Our congratulations to the Minister and to all the offices of the Ministry of Agriculture that have made such an important and ambitious project possible. And it is precisely to the Ministry and the Government that we turn to” Liberatore concludes, “to sensitize them on issues related to protection. Investments are needed, because it is indispensable to tackle unfair competition and counterfeiting to promote effectively PDO and PGI products in foreign markets”.
