Normandy dairy and cheese producers narrowly 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 for cheeses made from raw milk and those, more industrial, made from pasteurized milk.
The draft agreement, finalized in February 2018 under the aegis of the National Institute of Appellations 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.
A question of legal vagueness
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 appellation "AOP Camembert de Normandie". 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.
The same cheese all the time
Michel Lacoste, president of CNAOL, disputes "a drift" in terms of cheese technologies. In addition to 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 diet 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 added, fearing contagion to other PDOs.
The Association Fromages de terroirs welcomed this decision. "The quality principle has held up against the growing number of dairy giants' wishes. It is a victory for 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 producers' organization during the spring.
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