The Consorzio di Tutela Salumi DOP Piacentini presented in the Call for Proposals 2018 “Call for proposals for simple programs - Promotion of agricultural products”, a European project for the promotion of agri-food products, in compliance with Regulation (EU) n. 1144/2014 and funded by the European Commission, entitled “Europe, open air taste museum”.

The project target is the enhancement of European quality production certified in the delicatessen sector, to increase the level of recognition of European quality labels (PDO) and promote their consumption.

The Consortium’s main objective is the protection, promotion, enhancement and general care of the interests related to the Coppa Piacentina PDO, Pancetta Piacentina PDO and Salame Piacentino PDO, recognized as PDO productions in 1996, just four years after the publication of the first normative document on the subject (EC Reg. 2081 of 1992).

“Europe, open air taste museum”, launched in February 2019 and with a total duration of thirty-six months, aims to enhance the delicatessen sector through the promotion of PDO- protected cured meats (the Consorzio di Tutela Salumi DOP Piacentini is the only one in Europe to simultaneously promote 3 PDOs of Salumi) in Italy, Germany and France.

This is an important opportunity to strengthen the awareness and recognition of European Union quality schemes and increase the competitiveness and consumption of certain products, optimizing their image both inside and outside the Union.

The “Europe, open air taste museum” project aims to communicate the role of the European Union as guardian of food-related values and PDO-branded products are part of Europe’s cultural heritage.

The heart of the project is the planning of a strategic and studied communication that also visually wants to convey concepts such as luxury, exclusivity and refinement of PDO certified productions.

Great importance will be given to the pursuit of activities aimed at education in taste and the recognition of quality indicators in the areas where Piacenza delicatessen products are not yet well known, to their valorization through well-structured projects.

The highest quality and the best food safety standards in the world distinguish Italian productions.

In implementing the Project, the Consorzio di Tutela Salumi DOP Piacentini intends to operate by focusing on the use of effective means of communication on the consumer, to help consolidate their perception of being citizens and at the same time privileged users of a museum of widespread values and traditions enclosed in food such as Europe, of which the PDO mark is its emblem and seal.

The enhancement actions of the PDO productions of Piacenza will be designed in such a way as to involve an increasingly vast and diversified public and will follow a highly dynamic and impactful planning, which will involve the three target countries, Italy, Germany and France, with different promotional and communication strategies because of the peculiarities of each territory and the market objectives of the action.

This is an important project, also with reference to its economic value.

We are talking about 1,182,108 euros, 70% of which is funded through community contributions and the remaining 30% supported by the Consortium.

 Investments will be diversified in relation to the reference area: 699,032 euros will be allocated to promotional activities in Italy, 257,168 euros for those in Germany and 180,908 euros for those to be held in France.

The execution of part of the three-year program, promoted by the Consorzio Salumi DOP Piacentini, will be the responsibility of the communication agency SP Studio S.r.l., contractor of the tender issued by the Consortium for the awarding of a part of the information and promotion campaign of the Project, which will carry out the activities of its competence in accordance with the aims, methods and results expected from the community policy.

The main message, which coincides with the title of the “Europe, open air taste museum” campaign, will become a real brand.

The Protected Designations of Origin will be promoted as custodians of the values in which civilizations are reflected (as are museums) and in this case the values to be protected and preserved are a territory, a tradition, a production method, guaranteed by the high standards European and usable Open air.

The term eco-museum or diffuse museum indicates a territory characterized by traditional living environments, naturalistic and historical-artistic heritage particularly relevant and worthy of protection and enhancement.

It will be an opportunity to discover and promote an area of particular interest by means of prepared routes, educational activities, research, promotion and enhancement.

The primary objective will be to rediscover the territory of its own identity, creating more interactive learning environments that make use of the personal involvement of those who visit them.

The project “EUROPE, OPEN AIR TASTE MUSEUM will then talk about the PDO and their territory on a thematic basis, enhancing their particular characteristic and distinctive aspects. The widespread museum project will develop enucleating and harmonizing the various cultural resources of the territory, such as museums, documentary memories, churches, delicatessens and restaurants where it is possible to taste the product, so that they represent different stages and moments but coherent of a common historical and gastronomic narration on what a PDO means.

The protected designation of origin, better known by the acronym PDO, is therefore a trademark of legal protection of the denomination that is attributed by the European Union to foods whose peculiar qualitative characteristics depend essentially or exclusively on the territory in which they were produced.

The geographical environment includes both natural factors and human factors which, combined together, make it possible to obtain an inimitable product outside a specific production area.

The desire to communicate the role of the European Union will always be considered a priority in the objectives of identity and image, right from the definition of the claim.

The project will aim to promote the quality image of PDO-branded products through the message “Europe, open air taste museum” declined with various messages associated with it to emphasize the intrinsic quality of European products and highlight the high-quality standards along the entire supply chain, from breeding to processing.

A highly significant project, therefore, is a great opportunity for our territory to appear on the vast European scene, with the awareness of sharing a unique and highly valuable gastronomic heritage.

Piacenza, 20 March 2019