Graciosa cantaloupe will apply for PDO or PGI certification, announces António Ventura - Communication

Secretaria Regional da Agricultura e Alimentação

The Regional Secretary for Agriculture and Food announced today in Santa Cruz da Graciosa that the Regional Government will support the Graciosa Farmers' Association as well as the local Winery and Cooperative in drawing up a specification that includes a historical overview of the production and commercialisation of the Graciosa cantaloupe. This will be necessary to submit an application to the European Commission for a Community Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) or Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) certification.

"As a generational and centuries-old product, the famous Graciosa cantaloupe is unique in its characteristics and is already a certified product under the Azores Brand, so the next step can only be an application to the European Commission for a PDO or PGI certification for this unique product," he revealed.

António Ventura spoke on the sidelines of a meeting with the Graciosa Farmers' Association and during a visit to the Graciosa Island Winery and Cooperative, the entity responsible for the production of Graciosa cantaloupe, as part of the Regional Government's Statutory Visit to the island. On the occasion, he explained that this application makes sense because Graciosa cantaloupe "is a product that brings recognition to the island and its producers."

It should be noted that a PDO-certified product is designated when the quality or characteristics of that product are essentially or exclusively due to the specific geographical environment, including natural and human factors, whose production phases take place in the delimited geographical area. In turn, a PGI certification is a geographical or similar name that designates and identifies a product originating in that place or region, which has a certain quality, reputation or other characteristics that can be essentially attributed to its geographical origin and for which, at least, one of the production phases takes place in the delimited geographical area.

As part of the Regional Government's statutory visit to Graciosa, António Ventura also visited the site where works are underway on the Picheleiros Rural Road, which are the responsibility of IROA, S.A. and supervised by the local Forestry Service, where he was able to learn that the work is "progressing at a good pace."

The works contract consists of 425 metres of road, with a concrete drainage system, and was awarded to the company Vila Jardim, Lda. for the sum of 95 thousand Euros plus VAT, with completion scheduled for the beginning of September.