Product of Italy” or “Made in Italy” labels

An article in the New York Times (February 28, 2016) titled “Italy Growers Wary of Olive Oil Fraud as New Law is Weighed” , describes details of the “product of” law for olive oil as requiring use of Italian know how for blending even imported oluves, unlike the “made in” label which requires use of olives grown in Italy. The new label permits industry volumes to be maintained even when Italian olive crop drops, as the 2014 case when local olive production dropped by 50% due to fruit flies and olive tree disease. Should the focus be on the product volume preservation or on protecting the entire supply chain to be donestic? Will the focus on fines for violation vs criminal prosecution for labeling errors bring the process in line with other countries or encourage more fraud, given the estimated $66 billion misleading labeling of Italian sounding products? How should product quality be linked to location of production so that consumers understand the potential impact during purchase?

2 Responses to Product of Italy” or “Made in Italy” labels

Kyle Harshbarger says:

March 1, 2016 at 11:25 am

This issue is a matter of supply chain transparency. How much information about the supply chain do you want the customer to have. Just having two labels like this is confusing; you need a reference.
I would encourage olive oil producers to display their supply chain: which farms did the olives come from, and where was the oil extracted and bottled? Depending on your intended branding, the label space can be as prominent as you want. This works around narrow labeling laws which only confuse uneducated customers.

Florence Fleminh says:

September 1, 2017 at 3:19 pm

State mfg in Italy clearly tells the consumer what they need to know. Product of Italy tells the consumer nothing, very misleading