Wine promotion in the “Official Gazette”: 25 million euros to Protection Consortiums

Twenty-five million euros for the promotion of Italian wine is quite a sum. And, the money is now available to the Protection Consortiums and their “groups”. Giuseppe L’Abbate, deputy of the Agriculture Committee and representative of the Italian political party M5S, declared, “the Ministry of Agriculture decree has been published in the Official Gazette, which defines the criteria and methods to distribute 25 million euros dedicated to the wine sector. These resources were taken from the “Fund for the development and support of agricultural, fishing and aquaculture sectors”, which we have additionally financed with 160 million euros in the latest Budget Law. Therefore, we are now awaiting the administrative provision to understand the implementation criteria, that is, the requisites required of eligible subjects, maximum amount of projects and contributions, selection criteria, eligible activities and eligible expenses”. The beneficiaries of the resources (which include, however, different items from those for instance, of OCM Vino and PSR, ed.), will be the Protection Consortiums and the temporary associations within the consortiums for post-pandemic promotion activities both in Italy and abroad. “Information campaigns will be able to be financed especially regarding designation of origin and geographical indication systems”, explained L’Abbate, as well as “activities in the fields of public relations, promotion and advertising conveyed through traditional media and digital channels that highlight the high standards of wine products, especially in terms of quality, food safety and sustainability. Participation in trade fairs and important International exhibitions will then be financed, as well as the spreading, information and training activities aimed at operators in the distribution sector and the HORECA channel. And, finally, vocational training in hotel schools. The objectives are to support and increase the marketing of PDO and PGI wine products, develop information and diffusion actions to improve communication about their origin, properties, characteristics and quality as well as support actions to sustain their development”. Or, in other words, to feed that great widespread wealth in the territory, which is Italian wine.