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Inward investment is an important part of the Welsh food sector, with the Welsh government providing considerable support to bolster food and drinks companies in Wales. They also give Welsh companies a helping hand on the path to gain geographical indicators for key Welsh products.
A geographical indicator is an accreditation given to food and drinks products to protect their ties to a geographical location. For example, Scotch whisky and champagne are linked by geographical indicators to Scotland and the Champagne region of France, and products cannot call themselves Scotch whisky or champagne if not linked to these places.
Over the past twenty years, Wales has seen a significant uptick in geographical indicators for its food and drink products, with, for example, its whisky recently being given protected status. The Welsh Government has a key role in this process, helping its food products attain geographical indicators at both a UK and EU level.
In July, single malt Welsh whisky became protected under a UK Geographical Indication (UKGI). This protects the name and characteristics of Welsh whisky. The Welsh government had a key role in helping whisky producers in their efforts to achieve this certification.
“Being able to talk to Welsh government has just been brilliant,” Ellen Wakelam, Director at In the Welsh Wind distillery, told FoodNavigator. The process was complex, she told us, involving not one but many Welsh whisky producers, and the Welsh Government has “been really instrumental in helping (producers) all sit down together and collaborate.”
In order to get a GI, producers must apply to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) in the UK Government. The application goes to a panel, who will then negotiate with producers and look at potential objectors. The Welsh government support producers with the process, such as helping them with using the right language.
Single malt Welsh whisky was recently given a UKGI. Image Source: Jonathan Knowles/Getty Images
“The more people that are making Welsh whisky, talking about Welsh whisky, selling Welsh whisky, the better it is for all of us,” continued Wakelam, “and to have that kind of protected status when we go out into the world is a much better way of talking about Welsh whisky because it gives it that provenance and that authenticity that without the GI you might not have.”
If the conditions are right, Welsh Whisky may next aim for a Protected Geographical Indication (PGI), the EU’s geographical indicator. “We’re right in the very early stages,” Wakelam told us, “so we have to look at how we fit the EU criteria for the GI. It’s not just a straight ‘let’s take what we did in Wales or the UK and make it the EU’, it’s fitting their criteria as well as maintaining what we already established in Wales,