Food : Italy overcomes France

Italy has defeated France with a hundred and sixty-six food specialties gaining the top in the list; France has reached only the second place with a hundred and fifty-six specialties. Therefore Italy has achieved the leadership in Europe for top-quality food production: the so-called registered designation of origin or indication of origin (Dop/Igp).That's what farmers stated when they commented Nicolas Sarkozy's speech (the President of France) where he affirmed that the French gastronomy is the best in the world and France deserves to be recognized by UNESCO as mankind's heritage. A similar request was sent to the international body of the United Nations by Spain, supported by the European Commission for the "Mediterranean diet". Of course even Italy is directly interested in this proposal thanks to its top-result in the production of fruit, vegetables and pasta and to its leadership in the EU, after France and Spain, in the production of wine and olive oil. "Made in Italy" top quality products can challenge and win the French in their traditional fields, as it occurs for Parmigiano Reggiano ( the well-known Italian cheese) or for a lot of wines. The French announcement comes right in the moment Italy ( together with Australia) has gained USA preference as for wine(230 million lit wine, 1,12 milliard dollars worth) according to the news collected by the Italian Wine and Food Institute, France, instead, has lost its leadership in wine exports to the US." The Economist" confirms the competitiveness of made in Italy products because of an impressive article dedicated to the Italian Prosecco (dry wine )exported abroad, where one/third of the production is sent. The Italian Prosecco is said to compete with the champagne because its sales have doubled over the last fifteen years ,especially in the German market. The competitiveness is proved by the fact that in the USA and in Switzerland Asti and Prosecco (Italian sparkling wines) have overcome Champagne, according to Spumanti (sparkling wines) Forum.