Protected Designation of Origin – PDO – is a EU product quality scheme identifying products that are produced, processed and prepared in a specific geographical area, using the recognized know-how of local producers and ingredients from the region concerned.
These are products whose characteristics are strictly linked to their geographical origin. They must adhere to a precise set of specifications and may bear the official PDO red and yellow logo.
Through the EU quality schemes, the common agriculture policy (CAP) provides tools to help highlight the qualities and tradition associated with registered products and to assure consumers that these are the genuine products, not imitations seeking to benefit from the good name and reputation of the original.
As a result, these schemes and their logos help producers/groups of producers market their products better, while providing them legal protection from misuse or falsification of a product name.
Italy boasts the largest number of PDO and PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) in the EU. This confirms the high quality of Italian agri-food productions and, furthermore, it highlights the strong link between our food excellence and their territories.
The Latium, owing a thousands-year-old agricultural experience, produces four P.D.O. Extra Virgin Olive Oils: CANINO PDO and TUSCIA DOP in the province of Viterbo, SABINA PDO in the provinces of Rieti and Roma, COLLINE PONTINE PDO, in the province of Latina.