Greece wins exclusive rights to feta brand

ED RICHARDSON DAIRY PRODUCERS in SA, along with a number of other countries, may soon have to create a new name for their feta cheese brand. This after the European Union’s (EU) Court of Justice granted the Greek agriculture ministry exclusive rights to the feta cheese brand over other producers in Europe. Robert Wesseloo, chief executive of Clover SA, said that because of the generic nature of the feta cheese name and product, the name change should not affect the SA feta market significantly. He did however say that regulations might have to be changed in SA and that negotiations between the SA and EU would have to take place. Another dairy product producer in South Africa said that they were well aware of this and the implications. He however said that decisions with different industry leaders and industry processing bodies are still ongoing and unavailable as yet. According to the SA Cheese Industry, SA produces mainly cheddar and gouda while feta and mozzarella also remain part of the country’s other main cheese productions. In 2002, the Greek Commission ruled in favour of registering the feta name solely for cheese from Greece. However appeals against this were received from Denmark and Germany and were backed by Britain and France. The EU’s highest court has now however declared that despite widespread imitators, the term ‘feta’ is not generic. Feta cheese production is concentrated in Greece and is also the most consumed in the country. The cheese and sheep milk cheese is also important for the country’s export sales.