Paris (AFP)

Normandy dairy and cheese producers finally refused this week to grant a precious designation of origin to overly standardized pie charts, stopping the fragile peace agreement established in 2018 to try to unite under a common name raw milk cheeses, and those, more industrial, with pasteurized milk.

The general assembly of Normandy camembert professionals "rejected at 53% the new specifications" proposed, a compromise aimed at creating "a large Norman PDO", said Patrick Mercier, president of the association of defense and management of the Camembert de Normandie PDO (Protected Designation of Origin), in a press release.

The draft agreement, finalized in February 2018 under the aegis of the National Institute of Designations and Origins (INAO), would have granted from 2021 the unique name "Camembert AOP de Normandie" to all cheese, including those with pasteurized milk, provided that they are produced in a well-defined geographical area in Normandy.

In return, dairy producers and manufacturers, such as Lactalis, should have accepted tighter constraints on the quality of milk, in particular the obligation for producers to have more Norman cows in the herds. Constraints on the diet of dairy farmers, with more grass, had also been added.

The agreement also provided for the creation of a more demanding subcategory - "real Camembert from Normandy" - to enhance those made with raw milk, often also molded with ladles.

With some 5,000 tonnes produced per year, these are the only ones to benefit from the "AOP Camembert de Normandie" appellation.

- "Technological drift" -

Opposite, the 60,000 tonnes produced by manufacturers in the region are called "pie charts made in Normandy". Without AOP, they are not protected by European law against counterfeiting in international trade. However, it is precisely these that are exported. The attempt to resolve the issue of labels was intended to resolve the legal vagueness.

But, in addition to the outcry from great chefs, gastronomes and elected officials attached to raw milk, criticisms of the perimeter chosen for the new PDO area in Normandy had been made locally.

In addition, opposition from the National Committee for Designations of Dairy Origin (CNAOL) also weighed. He had denounced an "unacceptable homogenization" of a product linked to the terroir and the seasons.

"75% of French PDO cheeses are made from raw milk, but it is not the pasteurization of milk as such that we dispute, because it is explained by French history (Pasteur) and we accept it" had explained to AFP Michel Lacoste, president of CNAOL.

What he disputes is "a drift" in terms of cheese technology. Besides double pasteurization, "they use + coagulators +, machines that standardize milk, which will be the same from January 1 to December 31 regardless of the breed of cow that produced it, its feed and even the season. However, the very principle of a PDO cheese is that it comes from a milk which is a living product, from a terroir, to which one must adapt to make the cheese ", he had added, fearing contagion to other PDOs.

In total, France has 46 cheeses under protected designation of origin, three butters and two creams, or 1.9 billion euros in turnover made by 18,000 milk producers and 382 processing establishments. These appellations under specifications guarantee a certain quality, and protect a territory as well as know-how, or employment in rural areas.

The association "local cheeses" welcomed this decision. "The principle of quality has held up against the increasing number of wishes of the dairy giants, it is the victory of taste and very good news for all European PDOs", says its manager Véronique Richez-Lerouge.

The INAO has "taken note" of the decision, hoping to resume discussions within the producer organization during the spring.

© 2020 AFP