VILNIUS - Italian cheese makers are angry with Rokiskio Suris, Lithuania's largest cheese producer, for "copying" Parmigiano Reggiano.
The cheese scandal broke out last week when local media reported that the Parmigiano Reggiano syndicate was reportedly drafting a letter to Lithuanian dairy company Rokiskio Suris accusing the latter of imitating its brand name cheese. For several years, cheese-makers in Rokiskis have been producing a local version of the world famous cheese under the brand name Rokiskio Parmezanas (Rokiskis' Parmesan).
Leo Bartozzi, chief executive of Parmigiano Reggiano, was quoted as saying, "There can be no copies of the cheese produced by this company." He warned that Rokiskio Suris must either stop producing this brand or change its name.
Rokiskio Suris argued that, in compliance with EU directives, the company had already renamed the product to Gojus. The new label on the cheese indicates that it is a parmesan-type of cheese, which is not prohibited by law.
However, the company still uses the old labels, and there are still some places marketing Gojus under the old name of Rokiskio Permazanas.
"We believe that our cheese cannot be called a falsification. Italians were lucky to register the cheese, although we think that the word 'parmesan' should be appellative. Nevertheless, we respect the law, and we changed the name. They are too late with appeals," Darius Norkus, Rokiskio Suris sales and marketing director, told The Baltic Times.
"And we won't go to court over the name like some German company is doing now," he added.
Dalius Trumpa, production director and a major shareholder of Rokiskio Suris, claimed that the company had not received any letter or warning from the Italians.
"I think that all this fuss is unnecessary," he said. "Indeed, we produced Rokiskis parmesan until Lithuania's accession to the European Union, but we renamed our cheese last year. In compliance with EU regulations, we may use up our stocks of old labels, therefore, there still are some places where you can find cheese under this name."
The Italian Embassy also confirmed not having received any complaints from the Parmigiano Reggiano syndicate, which carries out the quality control and marketing of the cheese's production dating back to the 13th century.
"Up to now, the embassy has not received anything from the Parmigiano Reggiano syndicate," said Antonio Sansal, Italian commerce attache to Lithuania.
"Nevertheless, Lithuania should pay attention to this phenomena. I personally saw a lump of Rokiskio Permazanas on sale in Akropolis [Vilnius' largest shopping center 's ed.] this weekend. It's certainly a violation of intellectual property rights and also a violation of EU regulations that recognized the Italian cheese brand as Protected Designation of Origin."
The original Parmigiano Reggiano brand is strictly bound to its place of origin. Both the production of milk, and its transformation into cheese take place mainly in the provinces of Parma and Reggio Emilia. In 1992, the EU recognized Parmigiano Reggiano brand cheese as a "protected designation of origin."
The origin of Parmesan cheese, also quoted by Boccaccio in his book "Decameron," is believed to date back to pre-Roman times. Some historians claim that it could even be an Etruscan recipe, the manufacturing process of which was later refined in the Middle Ages.
"All in all, we take this as a compliment 's if the Italians notice our cheese, it means we produce a quality product," said Norkus.
