DO sales boost Spanish food industry

Sales of Spanish food products with the denomination of origin (DO) or geographic indication (GI) quality marks reached €542.6 million in 2002, an 8.1 per cent increase, giving a major boost to the food industry there.

According to the latest figures from the ministry of agriculture (MAPA), there are now 101 food products which carry the DO or GI mark following the addition of 13 more in 2002. These figures do not include wine or spirits.

The DO and GI marks show that a product has been made according to strict rules governing quality, location and production techniques. Products wishing to carry these marks are strictly regulated and must be approved by the Spanish or European authorities.

Volume sales of DO/GI products increased last year in virtually every product category, MAPA said, although this was due principally to the addition of the 13 new products.

But some categories showed gains without the addition of any new DOs. The meat products sector, for example, showed an 18.8 per cent increase in volumes and posted value sales of €105 million, while rice products posted a volume rise of 17.2 per cent and reached €12.5 million in value.

Sales of DO turrones​ (or nougat) also improved without the addition of any new products to the list, with turnover increasing 20.3 per cent to €83.6 million.

The 13 new denominations cover a variety of products. In the cheese sector, Queso de Valdeón and Queso Ibores were both added to the list, while four new denominations were added to the virgin olive oil register: Aceite de Mallorca, Aceite de Terra Alta, Aceite del Baix Ebre-Montsiá and Poniente de Granada.

Two new fruit denominations have also been created Frutas: Chirimoya de la Costa Tropical de Granada-Málaga [custard apples] and Peras de Rincón de Soto [pears], along with one new vegetable mark - Garbanzo de Fuentesaúco [chick peas].

The final two products are honey - Miel de Granada - and cider - Sidra de Asturias.

By the simple expedient of the addition of four new denominations, it was the virgin olive oil DOs which showed the greatest increase in sales during the year, a 31 per cent increase to €55.9 million.

The two new cheese denominations took the total to 18 in this sector of the dairy market, and helped lift sales by 12.6 per cent to €109.4 million.

Cheese is also the biggest single product category, accounting for 21 per cent of DO products, followed by meat products with 19 per cent, nougat with 15 per cent, fruit with 13 per cent and virgin olive oil with 10 per cent.

Vegetables and hams account for 9 per cent each, while rice has a 2 per cent share. All other DO products (excluding wine and spirits) take up the remaining 2 per cent.

The MAPA figures also showed that the vast majority of DO product sales took place in Spain - 85.6 per cent to be precise - with just 14.4 per cent coming from exports.