Geographical indications: collective organization and management.

Abstract

This chapter explains why and how, in a context of stronger competition for generic products in globalized markets, some European farmers and artisan processing enterprises have built 'strategic alliances' to coordinate the production and sales of origin food products. The first section of the chapter discusses the importance of collective organization in the European vision of protected designations of origin (PDOs) and protected geographical indications (PGIs), and why operators in countries/regions may be eager or reluctant to adopt this approach. The second section highlights the reasons that may lead producers and small artisan processors to join a collective organization. The third section is dedicated to the most common organizational models implemented with success in Europe. Finally, the last section of the chapter describes the construction process of the collective organization and emphasizes the difficulties of scaling up the organization without losing the vision, strategic objectives and values of the initiators.