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Developing a GI sustainability strategy for Café Villa Rica (DO), Peru - testing the implementation of the “roadmap towards increased sustainability in geographical indication systems” (FAO, ORIGIN 2024).

There is an increasing market demand for sustainably produced goods and thus an expectation that producers comply with minimum sustainability standards: such standards are requested by consumers themselves and /or by new regulations like the EU Deforestation Regulation. There will certainly be more such regulations in the future. Furthermore, the recently approved EU Regulation on GIs for wines, spirits, and agricultural products recognizes that sustainability has an economic, social, and environmental component.

However, GIs do not “per se” contain sustainability standards and are often not considered as a guarantee for sustainable production. While some commercial labels are widely understood as granting certain sustainability standards, the GI scheme is not, even though many GIs do “de facto” contain aspects of sustainable production, but which often are not properly communicated. One reason for this diversity is that a GI is one of the very few “bottom up” schemes, with the producers in the lead, and therefore differences between the content of the different Books of Specifications are understandable, but difficult to communicate to buyers and consumers.

For GI producers, it is therefore necessary to have a comprehensive sustainability strategy that is convincing for buyers and consumers, meet market requirements and also reflect their own reality and priorities. This requires both a top down (market driven) and bottom up (producer led) development of sustainability priorities and indicators where producing communities have to be involved. In addition, communication needs to be improved concerning the sustainability aspects that a specific GI already contains (Book of Specifications). GIs that were developed as bottom-up initiatives, controlled by producers, are as such more sustainable than top-down schemes.

To address this need for a more comprehensive sustainability strategy for GIs, FAO and ORIGIN elaborated the “roadmap towards increased sustainability in geographical indication systems” (2024). These are guidelines for producer organizations to identify priorities, assess performance and improve the sustainability of their GI systems. FAO and ORIGIN are actively working with partners to test this roadmap / strategy through pilot cases.

Under the Peruvian-Swiss IP Project (PESIPRO, financed by the Swiss cooperation SECO and implemented by IPI and INDECOPI), the GI Regulatory council of Café Villa Rica has been supported with improving their Book of Specifications to meet market demand, the establishment and use of an electronic traceability system, market access activities and sustainability measures. In this context, the above-mentioned FAO/oriGIn tools are tested in Villa Rica and a sustainability strategy elaborated. It is crucial that the GI management organisation is in the lead when defining the strategy and indicators, and enabled to implement and monitor the sustainability strategy later on. Experiences, findings, and recommendations with this pilot case will be shared during the conference. At the same time, Peruvian authorities will share their experience in working together with GI producers and ways how they can further support such sustainability initiatives.