Europe Approves Olio Di Roma PGI for Italy’s Capital Region

Summary

The Olio di Roma Protected Geographical Indication has been approved by the European Union, allow­ing pro­duc­ers in Lazio to use the qual­ity mark asso­ci­ated with the region, which is expected to boost the eco­nomic value of the prod­uct and expand oppor­tu­ni­ties on the inter­na­tional mar­ket. The PGI cer­ti­fi­ca­tion cov­ers all five provinces of Lazio, includ­ing 316 munic­i­pal­i­ties, and requires the olive oils to con­tain spe­cific vari­eties native to the region, reflect­ing the rich his­tory of olive cul­ti­va­tion in Rome dat­ing back to the sev­enth cen­tury B.C.

The reg­is­tra­tion of the Olio di Roma Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) has been pub­lished in the Official Journal of the European Union, imply­ing that the com­mis­sion has given the green light to the pro­duc­ers of the cen­tral Italian region of Lazio to make use of the qual­ity mark.

“This recog­ni­tion allowed us to asso­ciate an evoca­tive name such as that of Rome, which rep­re­sents an authen­tic her­itage in terms of noto­ri­ety, with a high-qual­ity prod­uct that has all the cre­den­tials to become the ambas­sador of our ter­ri­tory in the world,” David Granieri, the national vice-pres­i­dent of Coldiretti and pres­i­dent of Coldiretti Lazio, told Olive Oil Times.

“All the ter­ri­to­ries of the region are now cov­ered by a denom­i­na­tion of ori­gin, as the PGI is inclu­sive of four pre-exist­ing PDOs, and yet the ref­er­ence to Rome, with its out­stand­ing inter­na­tional rep­u­ta­tion, will be a dri­ving force in terms of oppor­tu­ni­ties and value on the for­eign mar­ket,” he added.

According to data from Coldiretti, the eco­nomic value of the Olio di Roma PGI amounts to about €52 mil­lion with an esti­mated pro­duc­tion of 75,000 tons of olives and 10,550 tons of oil per year.

The pro­duc­tion area of the PGI includes parts of all five provinces of Lazio, includ­ing 316 munic­i­pal­i­ties: 107 in the ter­ri­tory of the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, 27 in the province of Latina, 35 in the province of Rieti, 60 in the province of Viterbo and 87 in the province of Frosinone.

Extra vir­gin olive oils cer­ti­fied with the PGI must con­tain 80 per­cent autochtho­nous Itrana, Carboncella, Moraiolo, Caninese, Salviana, Rosciola, Marina, Sirole, Maurino, Pendolino, Frantoio and Leccino, and a max­i­mum of 20 per­cent of other vari­eties.

Olio di Roma is char­ac­ter­ized by notes of tomato, arti­choke, almond and grass, with bit­ter­ness and pun­gency of vary­ing inten­si­ties.

A para­graph of the prod­uct spec­i­fi­ca­tion is ded­i­cated to the link with the geo­graph­i­cal area, where the olive tree was used for food pur­poses since as early as the sev­enth cen­tury B.C.

“The Romans per­fected the tech­niques used to pro­duce and press the oil and spread their olive-grow­ing exper­tise through­out the ter­ri­to­ries which they con­quered,” the doc­u­ment said. ​“A visit to the Testaccio neigh­bor­hood should suf­fice to under­stand the impor­tance of the oil trade in Rome.”

“Site of the ancient Emporium river port, the amphorae unloaded here were smashed and dis­carded in such quan­ti­ties after emp­ty­ing that they formed an arti­fi­cial mound known as the Monte dei Cocci (mound of shards),” the doc­u­ment added.

The cel­e­brated his­tory of Rome is fur­ther evoked by the PGI logo, which depicts an olive branch set above the iconic Colosseum.

• Coldiretti
• La Repubblica