1st (almost) post Brexit UK-EU Cheese Battle: Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano vs UK artisan vegan cheese company “I Am Nut OK”

After the Consortium of Parmigiano Reggiano threatened legal action, British artisan vegan cheese company I Am Nut OK has been forced to change the name of their product ParmeSANS

It looks like English language punning doesn’t impress the Italians.

I Am Nut OK’s product is now going with the far duller and more prosaic product name

‘Italian Grated Cheese Alternative’

Its label  now read reads ‘Oh, Grate! Alternative to a certain cheese we cannot mention’.

 

Their ‘cheese alternative’ is made from cashews, yeast, Himalayan salt, garlic and truffle oil.

A statement from the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium details how ‘the counterfeit jars in question were discovered in Selfridges in the days preceding the Christmas holidays’, adding that it ‘intervened to eliminate the sale of an illegal product’.

It argues that the use of ‘ParmeSans ’ would ‘tarnish the Parmigiano Reggiano name… as well as creating confusion for customers’.

Established in 1901, the consortium carries out 2,000 inspections of parmesan products a year and operates in 27 countries. Its Parmigiano Reggiano cheese can be produced in only five places in northern Italy: Parma, Reggio Emilia, Modena, Bologna and Mantua.

The UK imported 6,940 tons of Parmigiano Reggiano in 2018.

Consortium president Nicola Bertinelli said: ‘This shows us it is possible to fight and win against cases of illegitimate branding. The consortium monitors these cases on the field daily and will continue to do so.’ 

Source:  https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-7903587/UK-vegan-cheese-manufacture-banned-calling-product-PARMESANS.html