Protected designation of origin as driver of change in goat production systems: Beyond added value

Abstract

Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) is one of the EU tools for rural development. Most of the literature on this subject is focused on premium prices and consumers’ willingness to pay for local products, since PDO and other labels aim to provide premium incomes for farmers. Our hypothesis states that PDO may also drive unexpected changes in farming styles, not only related to processing or market strategies, but also related to local resources usage, establishing different approaches to agriculture and food production. The PDO of Queso Palmero (La Palma cheese) was analyzed as a dual label system case (brand–certification and common label), thus enabling comparisons between farmers involved in a PDO scheme with farmers who work outside the systems. It was concluded that, for price formation, private brands are more important than common label certification, but complementary to each other, since PDO reinforces farmers’ efforts to improve quality. Beyond premium price, PDO also drives a radical change in farm structures, since it reconnects products to local resources (grazing vs intensification) and redesigns relationships with markets (short-ening and diversifying chains and widening product offer). This change is characterized by implementation of new farming strategies in the context of a PDO structure that coexists with classical farming strategies closer to intensification, not only in terms of productivity, but also in terms of decoupling from local resources and productive and market special-ization. Therefore, PDO is a powerful tool for rural development in a wider sense (resil-ience, empowerment, local capacity and network formation, among others) far beyond its narrow remit of promoting economic growth (local or regional). Therefore, coupling with local resources and strengthening local networks and relationships as sources of resilience, knowledge and capabilities improvement, have to be included in performance assessment of GIs (Geographical indications) in order to broaden the appraisal of their role in regional development.