Sardinia and its food and agri-food companies are proudly celebrating UNESCO's recognition of Italian cuisine as a "foundational heritage for living well, healthily, with taste and imagination."
Giacomo Meloni, President of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna , states this, underlining how the Island, with its hundreds of
products and with the thousands of productive activities and workers, «has contributed to this success».
The data says it all: Sardinia accounts for 2.7% of quality food products recognized by the European Union through the DOC (Protected Designation of Origin), PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), and TSG labels. The list includes nine: Sardinian lamb, Sardinian spiny artichoke, Ogliastra culurgionis, Fiore Sardo, Pecorino Romano, Pecorino Sardo, Sardinian olive oil, Sardinian saffron, and Sebadas.
Furthermore, the richness of the Sardinian territory is also expressed in 274 traditional agri-food products (PAT), 4.8% of the entire heritage
Italian, characterized by processing, conservation and
seasoning consolidated over time: 100 fresh pasta and bakery, 68
vegetable products, 20 meats, 21 cheeses, 21 products
gastronomy, 20 products of animal origin, 15 fish and molluscs, 7
drinks and spirits, 1 fats and 1 condiments.
According to the Confartigianato report, the island has the highest national number of DOP, IGP, and TSG certified agri-food operators: 15,440, 19% of the Italian total.
"We're talking," Meloni explains, "primarily about primary producers—nurseries, farms, and livestock farms—who supply their raw materials to thousands of small businesses, especially artisanal ones, such as pasta factories, rice mills, mills, oil mills, dairies, preserves and jam producers, honey producers, processors of preserved foods and packaged vegetables, ready-made meals, wineries, breweries, and cured meat producers , who in turn transform them into excellent European-certified products." At a territorial level «This is a sector in full growth and evolution – he continues the president of Confartigianato Imprese Sardegna - who increasingly responds to the needs of a clientele that over the years has modified and refined their tastes and eating habits. And «Despite all this success, the agri-food sector of our region faces significant challenges - continues Meloni - increasing globalization of markets, food counterfeiting, increasingly stringent regulations on food safety and consumer expectations in terms of sustainability require our companies to continuously update and innovation".
