One of the first things a cheesemonger learns in training is how to identify PDO products and explain the concept of the PDO system to inquisitive customers. But beyond the basic explanation of the symbol on the packaging, what does a PDO designation mean for a product, and why is it important?
PDO, meaning protected designation of origin, is a system that guarantees a high quality and authentic product through the preservation of historic recipes and the regulation of the production, marketing, and sale of protected products. The designation is granted to products that are strongly linked to their production zone and whose production process follows strict guidelines set by the consortium, the government group that oversees and verifies these products. You may see these cheeses referred to as AOP, DOP, or AOC in different countries depending on that language's translation, but they all represent the same values.
The PDO system extends beyond just cheese - while wine was the first product to be name-protected, today many different food products enjoy a PDO designation, such as espelette peppers, balsamic vinegar of Modena, Bronte pistachios, and beyond.
So what makes these products special, and why is a PDO designation such a big deal? The system is based around the concept of terroir, or how a product's production environment affects its final flavor. The idea behind the system is that these cheeses have been made in the same place, according to the same recipe, for hundreds of years, and that intense history is part of what makes the flavor of these cheeses so iconic. Protecting the production of cheeses allows us to protect their identity and allow us to consume cheese that tastes as authentic as possible. It also protects the producers of the cheese, allowing them a sense of financial security and the ability to consistently produce the highest quality product, as producers who don't meet the consortium's rigid standards are not legally allowed to give their product a protected name. This also guarantees that money spent on a PDO cheese goes back to those producers and in turn, back to their local economies that are inextricably and historically linked to the production of those cheeses.
A good example of why the PDO system is important is Parmigiano Reggiano - this is a cheese that, according to the PDO, must be made from partially skimmed raw milk obtained from cows raised within Emilia-Romagna and some surrounding provinces, and aged for a minimum of 12 months. The PDO even dictates the size of the wheel down to the millimeter, and that the cows' feed cannot contain silage. These are only a few of the requirements outlined in the 17 page document that also details things like the number of allowable hours between milking and cheesemaking, the fat content of the milk, how much of the feed can come from outside the zone, and whether or not the cheese is allowed to be cut, grated, and packaged outside of the production zone. Because of this, a cheese made with pasteurized milk in a factory in the United States from the milk of cows fed silage must be called "Parmesan" instead, as the flavor will be vastly different than that of a veritable Parmigiano Reggiano. In this case, the PDO protects the quality of the product and guarantees that anyone purchasing real Parmigiano Reggiano around the world receives a high quality cheese with the best possible flavor. In this way, the system helps build a consumer's trust in the cheese they purchase and ensures consistency in flavor.
In some cases, like that of Parmigiano Reggiano, there are additional consortiums within the PDO that have different requirements - for example, the Red Cow version of Parmigiano Reggiano requires a minimum of 24 months of aging rather than the standard 12. There are also separate consortia dedicated to the production of "heritage-recipe" versions of protected cheeses - a prime example being the relationship between L'Etivaz and Gruyère AOP from Switzerland or Salers and Cantal from France.
That is not to say that non-PDO cheeses are not good - there are many, many excellent cheeses around the world that do not have PDO status, partly because of the rigorous process of registering a new PDO. It can take years to complete, and as a result, a cheesemaker requesting PDO status must make their proprietary recipe public - for example, the newest protected cheese Wrangeback, which is not only the oldest cheese brand in Sweden but also the first Nordic PDO cheese. Some cheeses are also surprisingly not name protected, the most notable of which is Cheddar - due to the fact that the PDO system for cheese was not started until the early 1900s, Cheddar was unable to be name protected because it was already being made around the globe by that point. As a result, certain styles of cheddar have PDO status (like West Country Farmhouse Cheddar) but the style itself can be made anywhere. The United States also produces more and more incredible cheeses every year, with some being the best in their categories and even the world - Rogue River Blue, anyone?
Some refer to the PDO system as a "modern marketing tactic" based on protecting historic recipes and guaranteeing a high quality product to consumers who purchase these cheeses. Because it is so effective, the names of protected cheeses are attractive to those who want to profit off of an established brand identity while offering none of the benefits or flavor traits of the protected name. For example, a recent US court case ruled that the term "Gruyère" is a generic term that can be applied to any cheese made in the US, rather than a highly respected and refined historic cheese with 800 years of history in the Swiss town of (you guessed it) Gruyères. There is no reason why American producers cannot make a great cheese inspired by an iconic one - take Pleasant Ridge Reserve, for example - but giving your cheese a unique name rather than a protected one shows respect for the cheesemaking tradition and those who work tirelessly to preserve it in an age of industrially produced cheese blocks. And in the United States, why not take advantage of the fact that cheesemakers have the ability to give their cheeses fun and funky names like Hooligan or Cowboy Coffee!? Perhaps in the future we may see the creation of a name protection system for American products, but that is a blog post for another time...
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