(ANSA) - Alitalia's patriotic credentials were under scrutiny this week when it emerged that the national flag-carrier was 'guilty' of plugging French cheese at one of its top VIP airport lounges.
Italian farmers' union Coldiretti reported on Monday that a variety of soft French cheeses were on the menu in the Alitalia lounge at New York's JFK airport. Agriculture Minister Gianni Alemanno immediately expressed his disapproval, saying the news "astonished" him.
He said Alitalia, which is still more than 60% state-owned, was "a key company when it comes to promoting Italian products around the world." "The loss of such unique opportunities for publicising (Italian goods) in favour of promoting competitor countries is very serious," the minister added.
The issue achieved the rare feat of uniting Italy's belligerent rival coalitions, with members of the opposition equally indignant. Ermete Realacci, a prominent environmentalist and member
of the centrist opposition Margherita party, said that "we all agree on the need to be on the same side here, defending and promoting Italian goods worldwide."
He said he failed to understand Alitalia's reasons for preferring French cheese to Italian cheese when "we all agree on the indubitable quality of our national food products." The Green party accused Alitalia of "the worst form of provincialism" because it was "shunning some of its own
country's best products." "We hope Alitalia management realises that Italian foods are a vital part of the prestige enjoyed by 'made in Italy' goods around the world," it said.
Alitalia has so far made no comment on the row but one explanation could be that the company is part of the Sky Team Air Alliance which also includes Air France. Nonetheless, Coldiretti even accused the airline of aiding the boom in counterfeit Italian products to the detriment of the country's authentic food industry.
It said that by offering French cheese, Alitalia was wasting a chance to demonstrate the superiority of genuine products to consumers who might be used to foreign clones. The union noted that American consumption of 'Italian-type' cheeses had tripled in recent years while imports of real Italian products exceeded the imposters by just 2%.
It also pointed out that the average American preferred Italian to French cheese, consuming 5.8 kilos of Italian-type cheese per year compared to 100 grammes of French cheese. It said that by exposing Americans to the real McCoy in its airport lounges, Alitalia would reinforce the market for authentic Italian products and help see off its competitors.
Alemanno has promised the government will tighten the screw on the "rampant" food piracy that eats into its export market. The minister stressed that inferior overseas imitations now enjoy a turnover many times that of Italian food exports and stressed the government planned to attack the usurpers by setting more precise legal norms to defend genuine products.
Italy has become increasingly assertive at promoting its products and preventing their good names being tarnished by counterfeiters. The Italian government and the nation's agriculture associations have been pressing the European Union to take action at the World Trade Organisation to clamp down on 'wine piracy', while legal battles have been won for Parma ham and Parmigiano Reggiano (parmesan).
Italy has also won EU approval for a slew of regionally specific produce including the famed apples from Val di Non in the far north and the tiny but tasty Pachino tomato from Sicily. A raft of products are now hoping to win the same recognition including several prized olive oils, Italian
bergamot flavouring, Genoese basil, prickly pears grown on Mt Etna, honey from the northern region of Lunigiana, saffron from l'Aquila in Abruzzo and artichokes from the storied Ancient Greek site at Paestum.
Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi has also lent his authority to the issue, saying that the future economic viability of small towns is closely linked to their typical products, protected in Italy by DOC, DOP and other genuine-quality labels.
Another recent government scheme seeks to monitor the quality of food served at supposedly authentic Italian restaurants outside the Bel Paese.
