EXTRA VIRGIN OLIVE OIL: IMPORTANCE OF "MADE GREEN IN ITALY" CERTIFICATION TO INCREASE COMPANY COMPETITIVENESS AND FOR CORRECT CONSUMER INFORMATION

Today, the Press Room of the Chamber of Deputies in Rome hosted a conference entitled 'The importance of MADE GREEN IN ITALY certification' , which involved some of the leading experts in the oil sector and professors from the main Italian universities. It was an opportunity to take stock of an important practice, that of MGI certification, which more and more quality agri-food products such as extra virgin olive oil should achieve, to increase their attractiveness on international markets, also in light of current international geopolitical conditions, starting with the much-maligned duties.
Promoted by entrepreneur Alessia Zucchi, an oil producer whose company obtained the first MGI certification in the agri-food sector , the morning of the study tried to understand how the MGI Certification can help companies increase their competitiveness but also promote correct consumer information on the agri-food sector and in particular on the Italian olive world. A pillar of the Mediterranean diet, Italian olive oil is in fact one of the products that best express the values that make Made in Italy food a reference point for absolute quality, not only in Europe but throughout the world.
After the initial greetings of Senator Gilberto Pichetto Fratin (Minister of the Environment and Energy Security), and the Hon. Raffaele Nevi (Agriculture Commission of the Chamber of Deputies) , the following spoke: Fabio Iraldo (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa and Bocconi University); Carlo Zaghi (Director General for Environmental Assessments of the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security); Bruno Notarnicola (University of Bari and Italian LCA Network); Ettore Capri (Catholic University of Piacenza); Carlo Alberto Pratesi (Roma 3 University); the entrepreneur Alessia Zucchi (CEO of Oleificio Zucchi); Maria Chiara Ferrarese (Director General of the certification body CSQA); Andrea Marino (General Manager of FEDEROLIO - National Federation of Olive Oil Trade).
The moderator Klaus Davi , in introducing the group of speakers, underlined the overall value of the different professional skills and of the networking and coordination work carried out between the different Universities, in dialogue with the institutions and with the stakeholders. He also highlighted the fact that today it is becoming increasingly necessary to continue the collaboration between the Public and Private sectors in order to improve the knowledge and awareness in the consumer of the important parameters that the products certified "Made Green in Italy" bring with them.
Carlo Zaghi (Director for Product and Consumption Sustainability at the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security) explained that "Made Green in Italy" is the voluntary national scheme for the evaluation and communication of the environmental footprint of products, which combines the measurement of the environmental impacts of a product or service throughout its life cycle with the dimension of "made in Italy", linked to the excellence of the national production system, through the European PEF (Product Environmental Footprint) methodology, which allows the environmental footprint to be calculated by measuring the impact of the product in each individual phase of the life cycle.
Fabio Iraldo (Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna di Pisa and Bocconi University) focused on why the MADE GREEN IN ITALY certification is important to increase company competitiveness and on the topic of guarantees that this certification provides to consumers. First of all, today we are aiming for increasingly sustainable production cycles, which combine respect for the environment and the valorization of national agri-food excellence. To attribute this standard it is important to evaluate the environmental performance of a product, from the procurement of raw materials to the end of life, and to verify whether they are organized in order to reduce environmental impacts.
Bruno Notarnicola (University of Bari) went on to examine the environmental footprint of products and how it is essential for achieving MGI certification. It is often wrongly said to be a complex tool for small businesses, which form the backbone of the production system, but it can instead be a competitive tool for SMEs too. For certification schemes such as MGI, it is very important to be able to use reliable data to measure the environmental footprint of products and the supply chains involved. Very often we know that there are specificities linked to the production, territorial and environmental context of our country. These specificities are therefore inevitably linked to reliable datasets, and in this the role of universities is fundamental in improving them.
According to Ettore Capri (Università Cattolica Piacenza), the Made Green in Italy certification is developing a lot in the agri-food sector and in the transformation of food products, especially in the oil sector, but, also in light of recent experiences in the wine sector, there may be other new additional requirements that the MGI scheme could contemplate in the food sector. Furthermore, within the MGI scheme, great importance is given to the territory of origin of a food product and its traceability, but it is increasingly important to enhance the entire production chain and increasingly strengthen the MGI scheme to make it even more interesting as a competitive lever for companies.
According to Carlo Alberto Pratesi (Roma Tre University and EIIS - European Institute of Innovation for Sustainability), brands and certifications such as MGI are to be considered an effective support for environmental communication. A MGI certified brand brings with it elements of strength to set up a marketing communication campaign for Made in Italy products in a green key. In order for a campaign of this type to be truly effective, it must naturally follow some key rules regarding coherence between message, target and channels used.
Maria Chiara Ferrarese (CSQA Certification Body) underlined the importance of voluntary certification as a tool to support companies in their development and communication strategies and at the same time as a guarantee tool for consumers and stakeholders. The choice of solid standards, in line with the EU directives on Green Claim, allows for effective messages to be conveyed to maximize company results and investments. The definition of a sustainability model for quality Made in Italy represents an important objective to enhance products, companies and territories: a photograph that can be exported to countries that are increasingly attentive to these issues.
Andrea Marino (FEDEROLIO National Federation of Olive Oil Trade) focused on the path through which Federolio achieved the Made Green in Italy certification, and on what the next steps that Federolio intends to take in the name of sustainability will be.
In terms of sustainability, there is no reference "model / standard" with clear, verifiable, measurable rules. The measurement tools and methods are varied. Finally, the Communication of a GREEN product is complex, difficult for the consumer to understand. For these reasons, each company "chooses" its own sustainability path, the most effective of which is certainly the MGI certification. And in this OLEIFICIO ZUCCHI was a forerunner, since it was the first company in the entire agri-food sector to have obtained the MGI certification for its own product.
< <dal convegno="" di="" oggi="" è="" emerso="" con="" forza="" quanto="" la="" certificazione="" made="" green="" in="" italy="" sia="" importante="" per="" accrescere="" competitività="" delle="" nostre="" aziende="" e="" fornire="" ai="" nostri="" consumatori="" una="" corretta="" informazione="" sempre="" più="" trasparente.="" come="" imprenditrice="" da="" sono="" impegnata,="" insieme="" a="" tutti="" i="" miei="" collaboratori,="" nella="" responsabilità="" sociale="" ambientale,="" promozione="" buone="" pratiche="" della="" vera="" sostenibilità.="" tra="" l'altro="" ci="" tengo="" sottolineare="" orgoglio="" che="" siamo="" stati="" prima="" azienda="" agroalimentare="" italiana="" ad="" aver="" ottenuto="" "made="" italy"="" un="" proprio="" prodotto,="" il="" nostro="" "olio="" extravergine="" d'oliva="" 100%="" italiano="" filiera="" certificata="" sostenibile="" zucchi."="" coerentemente="" nostra="" missione="" sostenibilità="" cultura="" dell'olio="" occasione="" dei="" primi="" 215="" anni="" (siamo="" nati="" nel="" 1810),="" mettiamo="" disposizione="" istituzioni="" dell'intera="" esperienza,="" sperando="" possa="" essere="" utile="" contributo="" alla="" crescita="" tutto="" comparto="" olivicolo=""> ˃ declared Alessia Zucchi, CEO of Oleificio Zucchi SpA .