The P.G.I. mark, acronym for Protected Geographical Indication, is a quality certification attributed by the European Union to foods of which a certain quality or characteristic is attributable to a particular territory and at least one phase of their production process (production, transformation and processing) actually takes place in that specific geographical area.
For example, a food product can receive P.G.I. if it is produced in a certain territory but is made up of raw materials from another territory. For example, the Bresaola della Valtellina, while not using local meat, has the P.G.I. because it is produced in Valtellina with traditional local techniques and taking advantage of the local climate that favors the aging process.
The name P.G.I. it is, therefore, more flexible than the more renowned P.D.O. as it primarily protects the recipes and production processes of the product typical of a given territory and not necessarily the whole also given by the origin of the raw materials.
The P.G.I.certification, after verification carried out by the European Commission, is issued for Italy by certification bodies identified by the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies.
Food products with the P.G.I. in Italy there are more than 250 and among them we find for example: Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, Red Orange of Sicily, Canestrato di Moliterno, Caper of Pantelleria, Red Onion of Tropea, Cotechino of Modena, Lard of Colonnata, the Panforte of Siena, the Pasta of Gragnano, the Piadina Romagnola etc ...
All P.G.I. they have a round yellow and blue stamp on the package inside which there is the wording "Protected Geographical Indication".