The preservation of origin through the Geographical Indications (GIs) scheme has evolved from an EU policy tool for high-quality agrifood products to an instrument of international governance, green transition, and property rights competition. The new 2024 EU Law of GIs aims to strengthen the historical value of such scheme and support its role in indirectly generating socio-economic spillovers at the territorial level. This article analyses the effects of GIs EU policy on innovation in the agrifood technological fields at the municipality level over the 1991-2020 period in Italy. While the EU scheme is preserving the essence of tradition, it may impede the adoption of innovative practices, which, according to the EU Green Deal, are considered crucial for bolstering competitiveness, sustainability, and resilience. However, the linkage between products and the region of origin triggers a virtuous circle of informal inter-organizational collaborations and shared values that may spur innovations. Using Propensity Score Matching and Difference-in-Differences models from 1991 to 2020, we analyse how the acknowledgement of GIs impacts the agrifood innovation performance of Italian municipalities. Results show that GIs overall do not limit the innovation performance of territories, but there is not a significative increasing effect on it, suggesting that more straight policy actions are needed.