Deliverable D.T2.1 - Alpine Space · and Regional Development Agency of Norther Primorska Ltd Nova...

AlpFoodway Work Package T2 Identification of Best Practices

in the Commercial Valorisation of Alpine Food ICH

Deliverable D.T2.1.1

Map of ICH Food Commercial Valorisation

Practices Across the Alpine Space

June 30, 2018

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Coordination, comparative analysis and report writing Prof. Diego Rinallo, Kedge Business School Contributing AlpFoodway Partners: - Kedge Business School - University of Innsbruck - Munich University of Applied Science - Regional Development Agency of Norther Primorska Ltd Nova Gorica Acknowledgements We are grateful to Dr Harriet Deacon for helpful suggestions on a previous draft of this document, and to the other AlpFoodway partners for their comments and feedback.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction

2. Methodology 2.1 Literature review on the commercial valorisation of ICH 2.2 Development of a conceptual framework 2.3 Data gathering 2.4 Data comparison, analysis, and discussion

3. The commercial valorisation of ICH: Finding a balance between lost market opportunities and over-commercialisation

4. No firm is an island: Collective marketing at the core of the commercial valorisation of Alpine food ICH

4.1 A multi-level product promotion approach: from individual producers to umbrella marketing organisations 4.2. Local/Regional government’s integrated promotional approaches 4.3 Territorial brands 4.4 Slow Food: An international protagonist in the commercial valorisation of ICH-consistent products

5. ICH-consistent products: Finding a balance between tradition and innovation

5.1 Quality schemes and labels do not necessarily result in the safeguarding of ICH-consistent products 5.2 Survivals, retro-innovations, and living ICH products 5.3 Justifying higher prices

6. ICH-consistent experiences 6.1 Storytelling and taste education through experiences 6.2 The Price of Experiences 6.3 Cooperation between cultural, commercial, and tourism promotion institutions

7. The distribution of ICH-consistent products 7.1 Direct distribution and cooperative solutions 7.2 Indirect distribution: The need for a selective approach 7.3 The difficult relationship with large-scale retailers

8. Restaurants and other Ho.Re.Ca. outlets

9. Festivals and cultural events

10. Periodic markets and trade fairs

11. Summary and conclusions

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List of Tables

Table 1 Distribution of ICH commercial valorisation cases

according to country and typology

Table 2 Illustrative cases of Alpine food-related ICH-supporting marketing organisations

Table 3 Swiss territorial brands

Table 4a ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of survivals

Table 4b ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of retro-innovations

Table 4c ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of living Intangible Cultural Heritage products

Table 5 ICH-consistent experiences: Illustrative cases

Table 6 Retailing and wholesaling of ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases

Table 7 ICH-consistent restaurants and bars: Illustrative cases

Table 8 Two typologies of cultural events and festivals

Table 9 ICH-consistent cultural events and festivals: Illustrative cases

Table 10 ICH-consistent periodic market and trade fairs: Illustrative cases

Table 11 Main Professional Trade Shows in the Food Industry in Europe

List of Figures Figure 1 Geolocalisation of cases examined

Figure 2 A conceptual framework for the evaluation of ICH commercialisation

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1. Introduction This document, prepared in the context of the Alpine Space INTERREG project AlpFoodway’s Work Package (WP) T2, maps food-related Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) commercial valorisation practices across the Alpine Space. In the context of the present document, ICH is defined based on the UNESCO’s (2003) Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage1, according to which cultural heritage goes beyond monuments and material objects to include “the practices, representations, expressions, knowledge, skills – as well as the instruments, objects, artefacts and cultural spaces associated therewith – that communities, groups and, in some cases, individuals recognize as part of their cultural heritage” (art. 1). ICH can be manifested in the following domains (art. 2): oral traditions and expressions; performing arts; social practices, rituals and festive events; knowledge and practices concerning nature and the universe; and traditional craftmanship. In this context, safeguarding refers to the “measures aimed at ensuring the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, including the identification, documentation, research, preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement, transmission, particularly through formal and non-formal education, as well as the revitalization of the various aspects of such heritage” (art. 3). Taking these definitions as a reference point, this documents elaborates on the links between commercial valorisation and the preservation, protection, promotion, enhancement, transmission, and revitalisation of ICH in the context of the Alpine Space. Methodologically, the present map of food-related ICH commercial valorisation practices is based on secondary data such as academic research, news articles, and online sources. This report is the result of a collective data gathering and interpretation effort carried out by all AlpFoodway WP T2 partners (Kedge Business School, University of Innsbruck, Munich University of Applied Science, and Regional Development Agency of Norther Primorska Ltd Nova Gorica), and benefits from many discussions carried out online and in the context of various AlpFoodway meetings. Numerous case studies were analysed and main typologies of commercial valorisation practices and typical actors involved were identified. This provided an initial understanding of frequent problems and facilitating factors, which will guide subsequent AlpFoodway activities. 2. Methodology The conceptual framework reported in this document was developed in various steps, as detailed below. 2.1 Literature review on the commercial valorisation of ICH According to UNESCO, which shaped literature on this subject, commercialisation can be a mixed blessing for heritage communities as it can contribute to safeguard the area’s ICH but can also have various negative consequences. Based on the

1 Available online: https://ich.unesco.org/en/convention.

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analysis of UNESCO documents and other academic sources, we initially operationalised commercial valorisation as the set of context-dependent practices and approaches that, through a balancing of various interests successfully raise awareness about and promote ICH to local inhabitants, tourists, non-local consumers and other relevant stakeholders without distorting or diluting the area's ICH to satisfy consumer or tourist expectations. Additionally, ICH is commercially valorised when the local community benefits economically from the commercial activities, instead of being exploited by third parties (see chapter 3 for further details). 2.2 Development of a conceptual framework A framework for analysis, building on marketing scholarship and insight, was developed and discussed among WP T2 partners. At the core of the framework are these inter-twined elements:

- to be commercially valorised, food-related intangible cultural heritage needs to be turned into marketable offers either in the form of products or experiences;

- ICH-consistent products require appropriate narrative communication approaches, based on a storytelling logic, so that consumers can properly distinguish them from lower-priced alternatives;

- given that agriculture and food production in mountain areas is more expensive than in non-mountainous areas, a key challenge for the marketing of ICH-consistent products is to legitimise and justify price differentials;

- experiences can orchestrate products and other elements of an area’s tangible heritage (e.g., fields, buildings, etc.) in ways that can enrich an area’s tourism attractiveness;

- both experiences and products can be consumed locally, in the heritage communities (by local residents and tourists alike), or elsewhere, in destination markets such as large metropolitan areas where consumers who value such products and experiences are more likely to be found.

Based on these premises, AlpFoodway WP T2 partners sampled cases of ICH-consistent products and experiences, as well as cases of practices and organisations that are instrumental in the commercial valorisation of food-related ICH, such as:

- collective marketing organisations: this category includes organisations of various kind (private or public; for profit or not-for-profit; focused on agriculture, food production, commerce, sustainable development, tourism or culture). Their geographical scope can range from local to national to international, and ICH commercial valorisation may be their main raison d’être or just one of their many organisational goals.

- retailing/wholesaling: this category includes distribution channels for ICH-consistent products and covers both local and non-local outlets, as well as online and brick-and-mortar retailers of various typologies (large national retailers, independent specialty stores, wholesalers) with different market positioning;

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- Ho.Re.Ca. (Hotellerie, restaurants, catering): this category covers mostly restaurants but also other categories of food service firms, such as bars and hotels.

- festivals and cultural events: this category covers various food festivals and various other typologies of cultural events, which often attract a mixed audience of local residents and tourists;

- periodic markets and trade fairs: this category includes trade fairs attracting consumers, professionals or both (consumer, trade or mixed shows), as well as temporary marketplaces such as farmers markets. These events can be small, local attractions situated in heritage areas or larger events, covering various areas and food products, situated in more accessible areas such as large cities.

2.3 Data gathering Based on the conceptual framework reported above, AlpFoodway Work Package T2 project members identified and gathered data about numerous cases studies, which were broadly selected to document best practices, but also to highlight challenges and difficulties. The categories presented in par. 2.2 are not necessarily mutually exclusive. For example, cases focused on ICH-consistent products, when data was available, also briefly reported on promotional strategies and distribution channels. Conversely, complex and well-documented cases generated more reports, each focusing on different aspects. In terms of geographical coverage, we aimed for a broad coverage of Alpine countries. Each partner identified cases in one or more Alpine Space countries, based on a linguistic division of labour, as follows:

- Kedge Business School gathered data and prepared case reports for initiatives localised in France, Italy, and the French- and Italian-speaking parts of Switzerland, as well as transnational or international ones (70 cases);

- University of Innsbruck focused on cases from Austria and the German-speaking parts of Switzerland (25);

- Munich University of Applied Science focused on cases from Germany (10); - Regional Development Agency of Norther Primorska Ltd Nova Gorica

focused on Slovenian cases (9). Data gathering activities were based on desk research. Data was obtained from public sources, including published academic research and reports, news sources, and online promotional material. Cases were identified based on previous knowledge of AlpFoodway project partners, review of academic literature, and available ICH databases such as Intangible Search (www.intangiblesearch.eu), the ICH elements inscribed on UNESCO lists, the ICH inventories created by Alpine countries and regions (for example, Switzerland’s culinary heritage, www.patrimoineculinaire.ch), and the Slow Food Foundation for Biodiversity (www.fondazioneslowfood.com). To ensure comparison across cases, for each typology of ICH commercial valorisation practices, a format covering necessary and desirable entries was employed. The volume and quality of data that was possible to gather from secondary sources varied across cases.

http://www.intangiblesearch.eu/

http://www.patrimoineculinaire.ch/

http://www.fondazioneslowfood.com/

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2.4 Data comparison, analysis, and discussion Overall, 114 cases were mapped (see Figure 1 and Table 1), which formed the basis for further activities of data analysis, comparison, and interpretation. Each case was classified, summarised and reported in tabular form (see Tables 2, 4a, 4b, 4c, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11) by Prof. Diego Rinallo and Dr. Valentina Pitardi (Kedge Business School). Cases were then systematically compared within and across categories by Prof. Diego Rinallo, who also wrote the present deliverable. The results of the analysis, which permitted to revise and refine the initial conceptual framework, are reported in the chapters that follow.

Table 1 – Distribution of ICH commercial valorisation cases according to country and typology

Typology/Country AU F D I SL CH More

Countries TOTAL

Marketing organisations 1 1 1 2 - 2 1 8

Products 12 7 3 5 4 6 - 37

Experiences 1 2 1 4 2 6 - 16 Distribution - 1 - 11 - 3 - 15 Restaurants/Ho.Re.Ca. - - 2 3 - 3 - 8

Festivals and cultural events 4 2 - 3 2 2 3 16

Periodic markets and trade fairs - 2 3 6 1 2 - 14

TOTAL 18 15 10 34 9 24 4 114

Figure 1 – Geolocalisation of cases examined

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3. The commercial valorisation of ICH: Finding a balance between lost market opportunities and over-commercialisation In its Operational Directives for the Implementation of the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage2, UNESCO highlights that ICH commercialisation can be a mixed blessing: it can contribute to its safeguard but, at the same time, it can also have various negative consequences. The issue is specifically dealt with in articles 116 and 117 of the Operational Directives, reported below.

116. Commercial activities that can emerge from certain forms of intangible cultural heritage and trade in cultural goods and services related to intangible cultural heritage can raise awareness about the importance of such heritage and generate income for its practitioners. They can contribute to improving the living standards of the communities that bear and practise the heritage, enhance the local economy, and contribute to social cohesion. These activities and trade should not, however, threaten the viability of the intangible cultural heritage, and all appropriate measures should be taken to ensure that the communities concerned are their primary beneficiaries. […] 117. Particular attention should be paid to avoiding commercial misappropriation, to managing tourism in a sustainable way, to finding a proper balance between the interests of the commercial party, the public administration and the cultural practitioners, and to ensuring that the commercial use does not distort the meaning and purpose of the intangible cultural heritage for the community concerned.

On the positive side, commercial activities linked to ICH can contribute to raising awareness about the importance of such heritage and generate local economic impact for heritage communities. UNESCO warns however that local communities should be the primary beneficiaries of the commercial benefits and recommends the adoption of measures to avoid commercial misappropriation by third parties. A second possible negative impact of commercialisation is the distortion of the meaning and purposes of the ICH for the heritage communities. Academic research has often represented tourism has a negative force threatening the authenticity of cultural activities when these lose their private or community nature to be staged for a tourist audience. While some concessions to the needs of non-local consumers or tourists look inevitable, UNESCO recommends to find a proper balance between commercial and non-commercial interests and to pay attention to the long-term sustainability (economic but also environmental and cultural) of commercialisation activities. These considerations form the basis of a conceptual framework, reported in Figure 2, which ascribes a positive role to marketing but warns against its potentially negative consequences. The left side of Figure 2 refers to situations where local heritage communities do not engage with the market or do so in an insufficient manner, resulting in ‘lost opportunities’ regarding the raising of ICH awareness and local economic impacts. Put differently, marketing (as a philosophy, as well as

2 Available online: https://ich.unesco.org/doc/src/ICH-Operational_Directives-7.GA-PDF-EN.pdf.

https://ich.unesco.org/doc/src/ICH-Operational_Directives-7.GA-PDF-EN.pdf

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a set of technical skills) is not put at the service of ICH safeguarding. This may be due to a variety of circumstances, among which:

- Ideological preclusion to marketing, considered incompatible with cultural endeavours;

- lack of marketing competencies in the area of marketing communications, packaging, social media;

- lack of time (particularly in the case of small producers or non-profit associations based on voluntary work);

- insufficient financial investments (market research has long shown that a minimum threshold is required for adverting investments to yield results);

- fragmentation of investments and activities, when promotion of an area’s heritage is taken care of by organisations, authorities and levels of government in an uncoordinated manner;

Figure 2 – A conceptual framework for the evaluation

of ICH commercialisation

Source: AlpFoodway (2018) The right side of the Figure refers instead to cases of over-commercialisation of ICH: using UNESCO’s words, these are situations where ICH meaning is distorted to favour commercial interests. It might be the case of industrialised products sold as traditional, or experiences or cultural events that are just shows for tourists. Another instance of over-commercialisation regards cases when local communities are not the prime beneficiaries of economic benefits that are misappropriated by non-local actors. In-between the two extremes of missed opportunities and over-commercialisation are those cases where a virtuous circle is created between commercial valorisation and safeguarding goals: through a balancing of various interests, the local ICH is successfully promoted to tourists, consumers and other relevant stakeholders without being distorted and, at the same times, local heritage actors benefit also economically from investing time and effort in the preservation and transmission of the ICH. The framework in Figure 2 informs the following discussion on the marketing of Alpine food ICH.

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4. No firm is an island: Collective marketing at the core of the commercial valorisation of Alpine food ICH Traditional Alpine values include the common use of goods, the sharing of services and mutual aid among neighbours. An example of this propensity to join forces is the presence of various organisations that collectively promote an area’s heritage products (for example, cooperative dairies, food producers’ consortia, and the organisations formed to obtain a Protected Designation of Origin recognition by the EU). An area’s heritage can be also promoted by various other typologies of collective actors: private or public; for profit or not-for-profit; focused on agriculture, food production, commerce, tourism, and/or culture. Their geographical scope can range from local to national to international, and the commercial valorisation of intangible cultural heritage may be their main raison d’être or just one of their many organisational goals. These collective organisations often cooperate together and not infrequently they pool resources together to better face common challenges, for example in reaching non-local product or tourist markets. These organisations where not the initial focus of the AlpFoodway WP T2 analysis, but their important role was noticed by project partners when analysing other cases. Here we report some examples that illustrate the complex environment of Alpine food ICH commercial valorisation actors and initiatives (see Table 2). 4.1 A multi-level product promotion approach: from individual producers to umbrella marketing organisations In the two French departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie, since 1997 an association – AFTALP, the Association of Traditional Savoyard Alp Cheeses – has brought together the interprofessional trade unions representing eight cheeses bearing quality certifications (Abondance, Beaufort, Chevrotin, Emmental de Savoie, Raclette de Savoie, Reblochon, Tome de Bauges and Tomme de Savoie). The marketing of traditional Savoie cheese is therefore a multi-level marketing enterprise, involving AFTALP, eight trade associations, dairy cooperatives and individual producers. Specifically, AFTALP promotes traditional Savoie cheeses as a whole, highlighting their common characteristics: the links to the natural and cultural landscape, the original cow and goat breeds from Savoie, and the traditional cheese making practices. Drawing from financial contributions from all associated organisations, AFTALP is able to achieve a critical mass in promotional investments that would otherwise not be possible. In Switzerland, a national-level non-profit marketing organisation, Switzerland Cheese Marketing (SCM) AG, has the goal of creating an appealing image for Swiss cheeses through consumer-oriented campaigns that emphasize the common values such as tradition, authenticity, naturalness, and craftsmanship. Its shareholders include organisations from all stages of the Swiss cheese supply chain, including the Federation of Swiss Milk Producers, the association of Artisan Swiss Cheese Producers (Fromarte), 16 trade associations representing specific

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cheese typologies or cheeses from specific areas (e.g., Emmentaler, Sbrinz, Raclette du Valais, Gruyère, Mountain Cheese from the Grisons, Swiss Alp Cheese), as well as 38 cheese producers and exporters. SCM AG activities target both Switzerland and selected export markets thanks to a network of local branches (in Italy, France, Germany, Spain and Belgium), its knowledge of local cheese markets, and the exploitation of promotional synergies among member organisations. These examples illustrate the fact that the commercial valorisation of heritage product can occur at various level, from individual producers (e.g., an alp cheese maker) to associated forms (for example, a dairy cooperative making cheese from the milk from various farmers) to trade associations (a consortium or a cooperative responsible for promoting a PDO cheese such as Gruyere or Tomme de Savoie) to umbrella marketing organisations such as AFTALP or Switzerland Cheese Marketing AG. Higher-level organisations exist to reduce the missed opportunities linked to insufficient marketing skills, knowledge of target markets, time to devote to promotion, and promotional investments. At the same time, however, these organisations necessarily focus on diffusing promotional messages that do not necessarily highlight difference between heritage products and more industrialised counterparts (see ch. 5, and in particular par. 5.1). The commercial valorisation of ICH can certainly benefit from the activities of these organisations, but promotional activities that highlight the unique characteristics of heritage products and producers are required to legitimise price differentials (par 5.3). 4.2. Local/Regional government’s integrated promotional approaches Collective marketing organisations focused on products often interact with local/regional governments and tourism development organisations. In a typical Italian Region, for example, various departments (assessorati), each with its specific focus, are active in the promotion of heritage products, including those devoted to agriculture, culture, and tourism. Assessorati carry out separate or occasionally joint initiatives (for example, participation at trade fairs) that can also involve other actors such as Chambers of Commerce and producers’ consortia. To avoid fragmentation of efforts, in some Alpine Space areas regional and local governments have facilitated the creation of authorities that pool together resources and engage in integrated promotional campaigns. In Austria, Agrarmarketing Tirol (AMTirol) is the organisation founded by the Office of the Provincial Government of Tyrol, the Chamber of Agriculture of Tyrol, Tirol Advertising GmbH, and the Economic Chamber of Tyrol to act as a platform for agricultural marketing by grouping together food production, processing, commercialisation, and tourism. In the Canton of Valais (CH), a cross-sectoral cantonal company, Valais/Wallis Promotion, was created in 2013 with the merger of four previously distinct organisations charged with promotional tasks: the Valais Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Valais Chamber of Agriculture, Valais Tourism, and the Valais Brand Association.

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Table 2 – Illustrative cases of Alpine food-related ICH-supporting marketing organisations

Organisation Area Typology Relevant aspects AFTALP – Association of Traditional Savoyard Alp Cheeses

Savoie, FR Umbrella product marketing organisation

Founded in 1997, AFTALP is a second-level promotional association that regroups the trade organisations responsible for the promotion of the 8 Savoie cheeses protected by quality certifications (PDO and PGI): Abondance, Beaufort, Chevrotin, Emmental de Savoie, Raclette de Savoie, Reblochon, Tome des Bauges, Tomme de Savoie). While these engage in specific marketing activities, AFTALP is responsible for the promotion of traditional Savoie cheeses as a whole, highlighting their common characteristics: the links to the natural and cultural landscape, the original cow and goat breeds, the traditional cheese-making practices. Key promotional activities include the Savoie Cheese Route (see Table 5), a tourist itinerary comprising 72 sites (farms, dairies, storage and aging facilities, exhibitions, alps) that offer tourists the possibility to experience Savoie’s living cheese making heritage; and the Savoie Cheese Festival (see Table 9), an annual event that takes place every year since 2005 in a different location with a focus on one specific Savoie cheese.

Switzerland Cheese Marketing AG

CH National non-profit marketing organisation

Switzerland Cheese Marketing AG (SCM) is a non-profit organisation that offers marketing and communications services to all the different parties involved in the production of Swiss cheese. The aim of the organisation is to help Swiss and international consumers to discover the variety of Swiss cheeses by promoting a common image. While each producer manages specific marketing activities, SCM takes care of the promotion of the entire Swiss cheese industry, emphasizing their common values: authenticity, naturalness, and traditional cheese-making practices. SCM operates in Switzerland as well as in the main export markets of Italy, France, Germany, Spain, and the Benelux countries; its head office is located in Bern. Shareholders include members of the entire Swiss cheese industry: Milk Producers (PSL), Swiss Cheese Artisans (Fromarte), trade organisations and commercial companies. Today, 16 Swiss cheeses are represented by SCM: Alpkäse, Appenzeller, Berner Alp und Hobelkäse PDO, Bündner Bergkäse. Emmentaler PDO, L'Etivaz PDO, Gruyère PDO, Raclette Suisse, Raclette Vaillaisan PDO, Sbrinz PDO, Tessiner Alpkäse PDO, Tête de Moine DOP, Tilsiter, Tomme Vaudoise, Vacherin Fribourgeoise PDO, Vacherin Mont d'Or PDO. The main promotional tool is the website where SCM provides information on Swiss dairy culture, productive landscapes, itineraries in Switzerland, as well as recipes and products’ characteristics.

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Agramarketing Tirol (AMTirol)

Tyrol, AT Regional Marketing Organisation

Agrarmarketing Tirol (AMTirol) is a service company that develops and supervises marketing activities in favour of Tyrolian farming products. The association also manages the label “Qualität Tirol – gewachsen und veredelt in Tirol“ (Quality of Tyrol – raised and processed in Tyrol”. AMTirol’s main goals are to develop the Quality of Tirol label, to support the sales of Tyrolean products and to strengthen the image of Tyrolean agriculture. Members are the Office of the Tyrolean Provincial Government, the Tyrolean Chamber of Agriculture, Tirol Advertising GmbH, and the Tyrolean Chamber of Economy. Today, the association represents around 120 products and has a partner network of 1,100 Tyrolean producers, 50 refiners, 133 farmers, and 218 between hotels, restaurants, and stores that offers typical products from Tyrol. Main projects developed by AMTirol include the following: - Bewusst Tirol (Awareness Tyrol) promotes the use of local food in the hotel and catering industry. Participating companies are awarded with a label for their sourcing of local products. - The Bewusst Tirol Botschafterinnen (Ambassadors of Awareness Tyrol) project brings together all the companies awarded with the Awareness Tyrol’s label, with the aim to improve the flow of information and communication among consumers, AMTirol, trade, and producers. Today the network counts 205 ambassadors who provide feedbacks and information on products on displays, stock, pricing, and sales. - The Almleben (Alp Life) project focuses on high mountains’ farms and pastures, which are a fundamental part of the Tyrolean landscape that contribute to both the tourism attractiveness of the region and the dairy industry. The project aims to support both by encouraging the development of sustainable tourism and by offering experiential showcases. - The Tiroler Schnappsroute (Tyrolean Schnapps Route) is a tourist itinerary involving 41 distilleries that offer tourists the possibility to experience Tyrolean Schnapps-making traditions as well as product tastings. - Schule am Bauernhof (School at the Farm) aims to draw attention to small farming productions and attract the interest of young consumers for local foods. The project provides children and young people with educational trails, sensorial experiences, learning activities such as baking, and visits to fields. AMTirol also promotes regional and local cooking competitions, regional events such as farm festivals, alp festivals, and winter and summer markets. It also publishes 8 magazines specialized on cheese, farming, and Tyrolean farming culture.

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Valais/Wallis Promotion

Canton of Valais, CH

Cantonal Promotional Organisation

Valais/Wallis Promotion was created in 2013 with the merger of four initially distinct organisations involved in various types of promotional activities: the Valais Chamber of Commerce and Industry; the Valais Chamber of Agriculture, Valais Tourism, and the Valais Brand Association. The organisation has the goal to carry out promotional activities that generate added value for the Valais economy; develop awareness of the Valais brand and promote a positive image of the canton; create and manage a marketing and information centre for the Valais economy; conceptualize an attractive, cross-sector product and service offer focused on actual market needs; enhance and promote the marketing of the Valais’ offer together with their partners; foster the quality of services offered in the Valais through the Valais brand; increase business opportunities for the Valais. Thanks to the pooling of resources and the exploitation of synergies between tourism and agriculture, Valais/Wallis Promotion valorises the canton’s food and wine heritage in various manners. Promoted activities include wine tastings and visits to wine cellars, raclette tastings, baking rye bread, saffron-based activities (visits to saffron museums, educational trails, visits to fields), and visits to chestnut groves. Promoted events include cow fights, shepherd festivals, wine and cheese festivals, vineyard hikes, food festivals and gourmet trails, alpine festivals, events dedicated to specific products (such as apricots, cheese, raclette, chestnuts), and winter/Christmas markets. Valais/Wallis Promotion also manages the Taste of Valais Restaurants network (see Table 7). Its 56 members engage themselves to serve at least three warm meals and two desserts based on local products, as well as 8 local wines and the ‘assiette valaisanne’ (local specialty based on PDO rye bread and cured meats).

Slow Food Founded in Bra (Piedmont, IT). Present in all Alpine countries

Global grassroots organisation engaging in various safeguarding and commercial valorisation activities

Slow Food (SF) is a global actor that has the goal of preventing the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions by promoting food that is good (healthy and tasting good), clean (produced with low environmental impact and animal welfare in mind) and fair (respecting the work of those who produce, process and distribute it). Founded in 1989 in Italy, it soon developed internationally and today relies on an extensive global network of more than 100,000 members and supporters around the world. SF operates through 6,000 local chapters (Convivia) and national organisations in various countries under the coordination of SF International and the support of the SF Foundation for Biodiversity, the Terra Madre Foundation, and the University of Gastronomic Sciences. SF operates through: Campaigns. SF raises awareness on various themes through networking activities, lobbying,

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cultural and commercial events, social media, and media relations, on various topics including biodiversity, GMOs, the need to defend bees, raw milk cheese and sustainable meat and fish. Events. SF organises many fairs, events and markets to foster a stronger connection between producers and consumers, from small get-togethers organised by Convivia to international trade fairs (Salone del Gusto and Cheese, see Table 10) attended by hundreds of thousands of visitors, journalists, and food professionals. Ark of Taste. Created in 1996, the Ark is an online catalogue of almost 5,000 endangered traditional quality foods from 140 countries. The Ark points out the existence of such products, draws attention to the risk of their extinction, and encourages action to protect them through consumption, storytelling, and producer support. Presidia. Created in 1999, through this project SF takes an extra step respect to the Ark of Taste by working directly with producers and providing them assistance to improve production quality, identify new market outlets, and promote them through the SF network and events. Each Presidium establishes a production protocol in line with SF values. At the end of 2016, there were over 514 Presidia in more than 67 countries. Chef’s Alliance. Started in 2009 in Italy, the Alliance joins together chefs who commit to protecting agricultural biodiversity and local cultures. The goals of this project include creating and strengthening relationships between chefs and food producers and promoting the Presidia and Ark of Taste products. Earth Markets. These are farmers’ markets established according to guidelines based on the SF philosophy. There are now 60 of these markets, mostly in Italy (see Table 10).

Accademia del Pizzocchero

Teglio, Lombardy, IT

Heritage safeguarding organisation

Pizzoccheri, a sort of buckwheat tagliatelle, are one of Valtellina’s typical recipes. The Academy of Pizzocchero of Teglio was established in 2002 with the mission to protect, promote, and disseminate pizzoccheri (and more in general the food and wine culture of Valtellina). Based on historical research, the Academy provided the ‘official recipe’ of the Pizzocchero di Teglio. The Academy has 250 members, including ten restaurants all based in Teglio, which act as cultural ambassadors for the Accademia’s endorsed pizzoccheri recipe. On the promotional side, the Academy publishes a quarterly magazine and various books, and it organises cultural events and initiatives in support of the pizzoccheri and traditional local cuisine. Since its foundation, the Academy has organised more than 80 events in Valtellina and elsewhere to showcase the preparation of pizzoccheri according to its recipe. With its prestige and activities, the Accademia

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contributes to safeguard the original pizzoccheri’s recipe and heritage and promote Teglio as the authentic ‘place of origin’ of the pizzocchero. This has improved Teglio’s touristic attractiveness, thanks also to various food festivals and events organised by the local tourist board and involving member restaurants such as the Pizzocchero d’Oro (see Table 9).

Ecomodel Achental (Ökomodell Achental e.V.)

Achental Region, Bavaria, D

Sustainable development association engaging in various safeguarding and commercial valorisation activities

The association was created in 1999 to address the difficulties faced by the Achental region to preserve farming and prevent depopulation. The association’s goals are to preserve the area’s natural and cultural landscape; safeguard small farming operations and support the marketing of local products within the region; promote and develop sustainable tourism and trade; reinforce use of renewable energy sources from the region. Key activities include: individual consulting for farmers, to help them adapt to ecological standards, diversify their offer, and offer tourist experiences; development of various certification schemes for complying farmers, producers and service providers; marketing initiatives for local beef based on regional quality labels, short supply chains approaches, and festival organisation; development of a regional menu with selected restaurants; organisation of a farmer market.

Rye Valley (Vallée du Seigle) Project

Rhêmes-St.-Georges, Aosta Valley, IT

In 2003, the Aosta Valley Regional Agricultural Institute (IAR) launched a project to recover local cereal ecotypes. Thanks to the cooperation of local farmers who made land available for sowing, the IAR reintroduced the original local rye ecotype (SC50 Rhêmes-St.-Georges) that had long disappeared due to the halting of rye farming in the area and had been retrieved through a foreign seed bank. Building on this development, a few years later the local municipality obtained funding to finance a project called Vallée du Seigle: Entre Fours et Moulins (Rye Valley: Between Ovens and Mills), which permitted the renovation of some traditional communal ovens still present in the area and the creation of a recreational-cultural park. Ovens, rye fields and the recreational park are now part of a tourist marketing initiative to position Rhêmes-St.-Georges as the ‘rye valley’ and offer tourist themed itineraries and experiences. The chef of a local restaurant contributes to this positioning by offering local rye-based recipes that, while not traditional, contribute to revive the area’s living rye heritage.

Source: Elaborations on the AlpFoodway database (2018).

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By creating organisations of this kind, local governments facilitate the pooling of resources previously fragmented among separate departments and authorities, the acquisition of competence, and the exploitation of synergies between agriculture, food production, and tourism developments. 4.3 Territorial brands Regional or territorial brands are a widespread approach to certify the local origin of food and other typologies of products (see again Table 2 for various examples). In Switzerland, territorial brands are fairly developed (see Table 3). The 2017 Swissness regulation stipulates that to be promoted as Swiss Made, food products need to be composed for at least 80% of their weights of ingredients and raw materials of domestic origin (special provisions are made for milk and dairy products, and in the case of ingredients that are not available in Switzerland). Territorial Swiss brands include those reported in Table 3: most of them are established at the cantonal level, although there are some that are supra-cantonal (e.g., Alpinavera). At a more local level, an interesting case is the 100% Valposchiavo brand, initiated by the now-defunct Valposchiavo Region (Grison Canton) and managed by Valposchiavo Tourism, which proposes two levels of certification: 100% Valposchiavo, attributed to products locally made entirely with local ingredients, and Fait Sü in Valposchiavo, granted to products that are produced in Valposchiavo with ingredients that are not entirely local, provided that at least 75% of the added value is locally generated (see also Table 7). Regional brands like the one we reported for Switzerland do not necessarily focus on heritage products. Most of them adopt product specifications that allow for innovative production processes not rooted in tradition. These brands provide however heritage producers with a way to differentiate their offerings from non-local and lower-cost alternatives and facilitate access to local distributions and restaurants. Provisions on the local generation of added value can facilitate intra-regional trade and the establishment of short food supply chains. This too can create a favourable business environment for higher-priced heritage products, which can be preferred by local food producers and service providers who intend to increase locally generated added value. 4.4 Slow Food: An international protagonist in the commercial valorisation of ICH-consistent products Almost unique for its supra-national reach and approach is the Slow Food movement (see again Table 2), whose networking marketing strategy has succeeded in raising awareness about food-related ICH heritage and providing promotional visibility to countless small food producers at risk of disappearing. Slow Food is a protagonist in many of the cases that we report in this document, and rightfully so. In the countries where it is most diffused, its work has legitimised attempts to revive older vegetable varieties, animal breeds, and traditional food products.

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Table 3 – Swiss territorial brands

Name Products/Services Description

Alpinavera Alp, mountain and regional products

Alpinavera is a supra-cantonal association supported by farmers and artisan food producers from the cantons Grisons, Uri, Glarus and Ticino (see also Table 6). For a food producer to be a member of Alpinavera, at least 80% of ingredients of traditionally produced specialities need to be from the cantons Grisons, Uri, Glarus or Ticino; for the products included in the list of Switzerland’s culinary heritage, if products are not existing in sufficient quantities at the cantonal level, they need to be produced in Switzerland. Additionally, two thirds of the added value created need to be locally generated.

Das Beste der Region

Regional specialties

The label is attributed to specialities that respect strict regulations regarding quality and the regional origin of ingredients and raw materials. The association groups the following regional labels: Ämmitaler Ruschtig, Berner Oberland, Naturpark Gantrisch, Berner Jura, RundumBern, TouLaRe Seeland, Spécialité du Canton du Jura, so natürlich (Soletta), Das Beste der Region Aargau, Jurapark Aargau, echt Entlebuch, ländlicher Marktplatz Schwyz und Umgebung, natürli aus dem Zürcher Berggebiet, Das Beste der Region Zentralschweiz, Limmattal, Uster plus, Hochstamm Seetal AG.

I nostrani del Ticino – Aus der Region. Für die Region (Migros)

Fruits, berries, vegetables, herbs, meats, etc.

Migros supermarkets use this label to indicate products of 100% regional origin or, if requiring more ingredients, products obtained for at least 75% from regional products. The brand guarantees short-distance transportation and the respect of specific criteria regarding added value creation, origin and production methods.

Les Saveurs du Jura Vaudois

Dairy products, meat-based products, spirits, honey, pastries

Locally produced products whose characteristics respect the specificities of Canton Vaud.

Marchio Ticino Food, raw materials (e.g., marble, wood), and services (e.g., restaurants)

Products that are certified being grown, processed, transformed, and packaged in Ticino.

Marke Wallis / Marque Valais

Typical high quality products from Canton Valais (agriculture, food, crafts, tourism)

Label of origin and quality for the iconic products of the Canton of Valais (see also Table 2). Criteria to be granted the label include cantonal origin, the respect of product specifications, the organisation’s willingness to defend the brand’s value, and sustainable development.

natürlich

NIDWALDEN

Cheese, dairies, meat, jams, honey, herbs, teas, syrups, beverages, flowers, berries, wooden products, mountain railways, etc.

Typical, regionally produced, original, healthy, natural and authentic products that represent innovative specialities that are strongly grounded in the area’s heritage. Products are made in the regions of Nidvaldo, Engelberg and Seelisberg

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Neuchâtel -

Produits du

terroir

Wines, spirits, dairies, meat, honey, pastries, chocolate, natural and processed agricultural products

Regional products that respect product specifications that guarantee their authenticity and regional character.

Pays d'Enhaut

Produits

authentiques

Cheese, dairy products, honey, cured meats, syrups.

The label guarantees that the raw materials coming from the Pays-d’Enhaut farms (Canton Vaud) are produced in ways that respect the environment and locally transformed with artisanal techniques. Products also respect the criteria of the mountain and alp products defined by the Swiss Confederation.

Pays romand –

Pays gourmand

Promotion of the regional food products in French-speaking parts of Switzerland

These labels regroups the regional brands promoting products made in the French-speaking Swiss Cantons. The goal of the Fédération Pays romand – Pays gourmand is to coordinate the initiatives of member regional brands: Produits du terroir du Jura bernois, Produits du Terroir du

Pays de Fribourg, Genève Région - Terre Avenir, Spécialité du Canton du Jura, Neuchâtel – Produit du

terroir, Les Produits du Terroir du Jura vaudois, Les Produits du Terroir vaudois, Pays-d’Enhaut

Produits authentiques, Valais.

Regionaler Beck Bread and baked products Le meilleur de l’artisan boulanger and Gutes besser vom regionalen Beck are labels that promote local

artisan bakers who produce bread and other products made with natural and traditional methods.

Terre Vaudoise Food and crafts products Products under this label need to be identifiable with the Canton Vaud; are made with raw materials that originate for at least 90% from the Canton; and are locally transformed based on production methods that are sustainable and respectful of animal welfare.

Vom Chäser Cheese Label that certifies high quality artisan cheese from dairies in the area surrounding Berne.

100%

Valposchiavo Food and crafts products

This local label certifies both products that are 100% locally produced in Valposchiavo (Canton of the

Grisons) entirely with local ingredients/raw materials (100% Valposchiavo) or products that are locally

produced from raw materials that are not entirely local, provided that at least 75% of the added value is

generated in Valposchiavo (Fait Sü in Valposchiavo) .

Source: AlpFoodway database and Swiss Federal Office of Consumption data. UFDC (2006), Label e Denominazioni Analoghe in Svizzera (available online: https://www.konsum.admin.ch/dam/bfk/de/dokumente/Dokumentation/LABEL_E_DENOMINAZIONI_ANALOGHE_IN_SVIZZERA.pdf.download.pdf/LABEL_E_DENOMINAZIONI_ANALOGHE_IN_SVIZZERA.pdf ).

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Through its communication campaigns, events, Convivia, Presidia, Ark of Taste Products, and Earth Markets, Slow Food is very present in the Alpine Space and represent a culturally influential actor that has provided a blueprint for collective action aiming to safeguard and promote food-related ICH. The other organisations we analysed have a more limited geographical reach, varying from a single municipality to a region/canton/land, and represent a wide variety of actors including municipalities, eco-museums, cooperatives of producers, sustainable development organisations, for-profit companies, public-private partnerships. In some cases, (e.g., the rye eco-museum of Val Gesso in Piedmont, Italy) the raison d’être of the organisation is to safeguard and valorise the area’s ICH through cultural and pedagogical activities. In other cases, trade associations, cooperative of producers, promote an area’s heritage or regional development authorities to better sell their products or generate sustainable development. All organisations mapped are collective actors that represent the interests of a more or less heterogeneous stakeholder group. In many cases, we observed links between tourism and food heritage promotion: sometimes the process is driven by producer associations who create tourist experiences (for example, brewery tours or cheese routes) to better sell their members’ products; in other occasions, tourism destination organisations employ food heritage to better promote touristic products. 5. ICH-consistent products: Finding a balance between tradition and innovation In marketing, a product is understood as any market offer that satisfies consumer needs. Typical decisions in this domain include, among others, product design, innovation, assortment, packaging and labelling. Products, so to speak, make intangible culture heritage tangible (that is, touchable, but also tasteable and smellable). Put differently, ICH is a source of meaning that can result in consumer preference and willingness-to-pay a premium price – but only if it is appropriately communicated and perceived by consumers. Product decisions bring in the issue of innovation/new product development, which might look at odd with the idea of ‘traditional’, heritage food products. According to UNESCO’s conceptualisation, however, ICH does not only represent inherited traditions. ICH is constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to their environment, their interaction with nature, and their history. It is at the same time traditional, contemporary and alive, and needs to evolve to respond to environmental changes. This living heritage approach stands in contrast to what some refers to as the ‘museification’, ‘fossilisation’ or ‘freezing’ of ICH, based on the preservation of past traditions without allowing for their evolution. Product and process innovations in response to evolving market needs (as well as technological innovation and regulations) are therefore compatible with the safeguard of a living ICH – provided that it does not result in over-commercialization, that local communities remain the primary

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beneficiaries, and that there is a balance between commercial and cultural considerations (see again chap. 3 and Figure 2). AlpFoodway WP T2 project members searched for cases of ICH-consistent products in order to better understand how a balance between the safeguarding of tradition and the adaptation to technical developments, hygiene norms, and market conditions was achieved. Overall, 37 cases were compared and analysed (see Tables 4a, 4b and 4c). Key findings are reported below. 5.1 Quality schemes and labels do not necessarily result in the safeguarding of ICH-consistent products Groups of producers are the key actors in the establishment of collective trademarks, such as the EU quality logos that can be attributed to food products with traditional production methods or characteristics linked to a specific production area (PDO, Protected Designation of Origin; PGI, Protected Geographical Indication; TSG, Traditional Speciality Guaranteed)3. PDOs have the strongest link to the territory, requiring that all aspects of production, processing and preparation are local. PGIs are granted based on local know how and a close link between a product and the local area, but do not require that all stages of production, processing or preparation take place in the area. TSGs require that products are based on a traditional know how regarding production methods or composition dating back to at least thirty years, without necessarily being linked to specific geographical areas. To register a product according to one of these schemes, groups of producers need to first define the product according to agreed-upon specifications. In the case of TSG, the product recipe needs to be precisely defined. In the case of PDOs and PGIs, product specification can allow for some variation in production methods (for example, a minimum/maximum percentage of a specific ingredient). Since the production methods adopted by individual producers can be diverse, the specification definition process is inherently problematic. Even minor details can be extensively discussed for years until a compromise is reached. Heritage producers in peripheral mountain areas are often few, small-scale, and/or distant from political decision-making centres. As a result, the product specifications adopted for PDOs and PGIs can end up extending the boundaries of production areas and favour the commercial interests of larger producers who adopt more industrialized and non-traditional production processes. In some of the more extreme cases we identified, heritage producers are no longer legally entitled to sell their products under their original name. For example, ICH-consistent producers of Bitto cheese, protesting over the extension of the production area beyond the Bitto Valleys (Lombardy, Italy) and the changing of traditional production methods, have left the consortium that holds legal rights over the Bitto PDO.

3 See https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/schemes/foodstuff_en.

https://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/quality/schemes/foodstuff_en

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Table 4a – ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of survivals

Product Area Typology Relevant aspects East Tyrolean Lamb

Matrei, Assling, and Anras, Tyrol, AU

Meat and meat products

Thanks to its low-fat meat, this free-range lamb breed enjoys both domestic and international market success, with peak sales during the Christmas and Easter periods. Most of the production is marketed through the Raiffeisengenossenschaft Osttirol (RGO) cooperative to Italy, Germany and Austria. Since 2007, the East Tyrolean Lamb is successfully sold by Spar supermarkets. The product is granted the “Qualitäts Tirol” label by Agrarmarketing Tirol (see Table 2).

Grubenkraut (pit cabbage)

Fischbacher Alps, Styria, AU

Vegetable (cabbage)

Grubenkraut is a traditional form of cabbage conservation, which fell in disuse during the 1970s. With the involvement of Slow Food, which created a Presidium in 2009, one family has been able to safeguard and revive the practice, and promote related products in Austria and abroad.

Holzapfelessig Apple Vinegar

Styria and Carinthia, AU

Wine and alcohol

Produced from wild crab apples, the Holzapfelessig vinegar was traditionally produced for self-consumption. Abandoned with the advent of commercial vinegars, it survived thanks to some families of restaurant owners and to a small production for a local pharmacy, that sells it for its use in popular medicine.

Holzknechtnocken

(Dumplings) Salzkammergut, AU

Traditional dish

Made of wheat flour, water, clarified butter and salt, and served both sweet and sour, these ‘lumberjack’s dumpling’ are a simple dish that wood cutters in the area used to prepare during their work weeks. This heritage is revived in the area thanks to local restaurants, which serve it to tourists, and to the lumbering museum (Bad Goisern), which shows the life of woodcutters in the past and enable visitors to assist to live demonstrations of Holzknechtnocken preparation (see Table 5).

Krainer Steinschaf Sheep

Julian Alps, Carinthia, AU/Triglav mountain, SL/ Resia Valley, Friuli, IT

Meet and meat products

This breed of sheep had almost disappeared due to crossbreeding. Considered “highly endangered” by the Austrian Programme for Sustainable Agriculture (ÖPUL), thanks to the retrieval of pure-breed specimen the Krainer Steinschaf has now been re-introduced. Key actors involved are the Krainer Schafzüchter Alpen Adria (an association of breeders founded by 15 members in 1998) and the Verein zur Erhaltung des Krainer Steinschafes (the Association for the preservation of the Krainer Steinschaf founded by 8 members in 2008), as well as Slow Food that included the breed in its Ark of Taste list of endangered species. Various market offerings based on the sheep’s meat, milk and wool have been developed under the pay-off “market to survive”. Some of the farmers have joined forces to turn to organic breeding to better market their production.

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Lungau Tauern Rye

Lungau, Salzburg, AU

Cereals (rye and rye products)

Cultivated in the area at least since the 18th century, this rye variety almost disappeared during 1970s as its long straw make it difficult to be mechanically harvested. The turning point was 2006, when a few committed farmers launched the Lungau Ark project to preserve old plant varieties in the area, and Slow Food included the Lungau Tauern rye in its Ark of Taste project (in a later moment, a Presidium was established). Local bakers and other producers were involved and new products have been created with this local rye, including sourdough bread, Hasenöhrl (dough fried in lard), beer, and distilled schnapps. The Tauern rye culture is now at the centre of a Tauernroggenfeste (Tauern Rye Festival).

Sulmtaler Chicken

Sulmtal, Styria, AU


The Sulmtaler chicken risked extinction because of crossbreeding during the 19th century and again in the period during the two World Wars, and only survived thanks to amateur breeders and local poultry associations. In more recent years, thanks to university-based projects the pure breed has been re-established and the Slow Food’s Ark of Taste project further contributed to its visibility. Sulmtaler Vermarktungs GmbH (Sulmtaler Marketing Ltd.) ensure that the chicken are raised under strict quality assurance conditions and engages in collective marketing activities that highlight differences between pure-breed Sulmtaler chicken and other poultry from the area.

Talggen (oatmeal)

Carinthia, AU Traditional dish (made with rye, oat, and wheat)

Talggen (called by some as the Carinthian couscous) is an oatmeal made with steamed cereals. It is a traditional dish that had mostly disappeared from local kitchens. Slow Food inscribed it in its Ark of Taste list, and a few farmers now produce it in small quantities to sell it in their farms or at local farmers’ markets.

Wildschönau Krautinger (turnip spirit)

Wildschönau, Tyrol, AU

Wine and Alcohol

The Krautinger is a beetschnaps (turnip spirit) made from a local variety of water beet, appreciated for its health benefits. In the 18th century, Empress Maria Theresia bestowed exclusive distillery rights on the region’s farmers. Included in the Austrian Register of Traditional Food, it still produced by 14 local farmers. The water beet and the Krautinger are at the centre of the local harvest festival in autumn (see Table 9), which includes a Krautinger walk, an award ceremony to the year’s best schnapps, a craft fair and music events. This local festival has now turned into a tourist event marketed by the local tourist destination organisation.

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Alpziger Ricotta Cantons of Freiburg, Bern, and Obwalden, CH

Milk and dairy products

Alpziger is a cow milk’s ricotta, made from the whey left over after making raw-milk cheeses like Sbrinz and Gruyere. Its production was mostly abandoned as Alpziger is easily perishable and difficult to market. Slow Food established a Presidium with two of the last cheese maker still producing it, with the goal of convincing more cheese makers to revive the tradition, and involve artisans-bakers, pastry chefs and confectioners to encourage them to use Alpziger to fill their specialities.

Allgäuer Sennalpkäse g.U. Cheese

Districts of Oberallgäu, Ostallgäu and Lindau, Bavaria, D


This alp hard cheese produced from raw milk in the Alpine and pre-Alpine areas of the Allgäu region was granted the PDO designation in 2016. Product specifications do not allow industrial production, and emphasize instead community and handicraft values (all production stages, including maturation, are done by hand and with traditional tools). Most of the production is locally distributed. Due to the strict PDO criteria, some traditional producers can no longer call their product Allgäuer Sennalpkäse (e.g., milk from a different cattle breed).

Laufener Country Wheat

Berchtesgadener, Bavaria, D

Cereals (wheat)

This historical grain variety, once widespread in Southern Bavaria, had almost disappeared. Some seeds were however stored in gene banks and the AELF Rosenheim (Bureau for Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry). In the 1980s, it was still cultivated by two farmers and by the Amerang rural museum for demonstration purposes. Thanks to research showing it to be the only autochthonous grain variety remaining from the region, in 1996 systematic attempts to reactivate the variety were made with the financial support of the Bavarian nature preservation fund. By 2007, thanks to the involvement of private citizens and farmers, 400 kg of Laufener Country wheat seeds were acquired by the ANL Lauren (Bavarian academy for nature protection and landscape conservation), which involved more organic farmers in its cultivation. Surfaces cultivated and production have increased over the years, and local mills and bakers have been involved. Slow Food included it in its Ark of Taste and is developing a Presidium over it. Local entrepreneurs are developing new products, including beer, whisky, and the ‘flaschlbrot’, a bread baking mix packaged in a bottle. An Interreg project was initiated in 2014 to market and establish Laufener Landweizen as a brand.

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Murnau-Werdenfelser cattle breed

Alpine regions around Garmisch-Patenkirchen and Mittenwald, pre-Alpine regions from Oberammergau to Murnauer Moos, Bavaria, D


The Murnau-Werdenfelser cow was traditionally used in Bavaria as a triple purpose breed for milk, beef and as working animal. During the industrialization of the area, the Murnau-Wedenfelser was progressively substituted with more productive breeds, and risked extinction. Despite state support since the 1980s, the breeding stock reached its lowest point in 2005 with only 113 cows and 6 bulls left. In the same year, the cattle breed was included in Slow Food's Ark of Taste catalogue of endangered species. In 2005, the restaurant Der Pschorr in Munich started offering Murnau-Werdenfelser beef dishes as a regional specialty. By doing so, it recovered traditional cooking skills and recipes to utilize all parts of the cow, including bones and offal. In 2007, the promotional “Förderverein für das Murnau-Werdenfelser Rind” association was established. Since then, thanks to the commitment and efforts of breeders, farmers, experts, politicians and non-profit organisations, the livestock could recover to 1,400 animals and is still growing. Today, the organisation cooperates with 52 farmers, the regional slaughterhouse, and a local butcher shop to coordinate the distribution of beef and other products to shops and restaurants. It also carries out various promotional activities, including the management of the website http://murnauwerdenfelser.de and storytelling over social media. The website also offers the possibility to order online products to be picked up in Munich at the Der Pschorr restaurant. A cooperation with the supermarket chains Rewe and Edeka has been set up to offer Murnau Werdenfelser products at 16 supermarkets in the region. Besides Slow Food, the organisation cooperates with the “Gesellschaft zur Erhaltung alter und gefährdeter Haustierrassen” (Society for the safeguarding of old and endangered domestic breeds) to raise public awareness for the breed and capture the increasing customer demand for regional, healthy, high quality food.

Haute-Provence Einkorn

Mevouillon, Haute-Provence, FR

Cereal (einkorn)

Haute-Provence Einkorn (Petit Épeautre d’Haute Provence) is a local grain, traced back to 9,000 BC. Until Roman times, this cereal was widely eaten, but in most areas of the Mediterranean it was later replaced by common and durum wheat, and largely forgotten by modern breeders because of its poor yields and the processing work it requires. Nevertheless, its culture has been maintained in Haute Provence where it is part of the cereal heritage. Today, around 70 farms and processors are involved in the production of the einkorn. They are part of the “Syndacat de Petit Épeautre d’Haute Provence (Haute Provence Einkorn Syndicate), created in 1997 with the aim to protect the grain and certify product quality and origin. In 2005, Slow Food established a Presidium, and in April 2010 the grain obtained the PGI designation of origin that defined

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production areas and methods. In 2010, the producers also founded the “Association of Haute Provence Einkorn producers”, which is responsible for collective marketing actions such as the purchase of packaging, the development of communication materials, and the organisation of trade fair participations.

Persillé de Tignes (Tignes Blue Cheese)

Tignes, Savoie, FR

Milk and dairy products.

The production of Persillé de Tignes dates back at least to the 18th century. After WWII, most cheese maker in Tigne reconverted to other trades and productions. The tradition is now carried on by just one cheese maker, Paulette Marmottan, who in 1993 took over the activities of her father, who was the last producer of Persillé. In 2011, Ms Marmottan won the Prairies Fleuries contest, a national competition that recognizes farmers who exploit the agro-ecological value of their meadows. Slow Food included this product in its Ark of Taste project.

Risoul Apple Risoul, Haute Alpes, FR

Vegetables and fruits (apple)

This apple variety has been cultivated for centuries in the Risoul area and constituted an essential component of local alimentation. Compared to other apple varieties, it could be conserved for a longer period (up to nine months). As a result, it enjoyed significant market success and its cultivation become an important economic activity for the Guile Valley in the 1940-60 period, when it was even exported to North Africa. During the 1960s, its production declined because of the introduction of other apple varieties and new conservation technologies (cold rooms) that eventually drove the Risoul apple out of the market. Several apple orchards survived, and this apple variety is experiencing a revival thanks to the growing interest in regional products and the development of tourism in the area. Once consumed as table apple, it is now mostly transformed into apple juice and sold locally. In November, the municipality of Risoul hosts the Risoul Apple Festival, with a farmer market and animations.

Coimo Rye Bread Coimo, Piedmont, IT

Cereals (rye bread)

Coimo is a small hamlet of the Municipality of Druogno. Its traditional rye bread, once baked in communities oven twice a year by local families for self-consumption, comes in two versions: pan negar (black bread), made with 90% rye flour, and crescensin, made with the addition of walnuts and raisins. Similar breads are now produced by other bakers in the Ossola Valley, but in Cuomo the Conti family, which runs a bakery, preserved the heritage and registered the Pane Nero di Coimo trademark. Massimo, the current baker, started working in the family bakery during the 1980s following in the steps of his father Mario, Coimo’s first baker; he is now helped by his son. Using a recipe dating back to the 1880 (but adopting some labour-saving technological equipment), the two bread varieties are baked 6 days a week and distributed to many retailers in the valley and its surrounding. The family prepares rye bread during the

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celebrations of St. Joseph’s day in the nearby city of Montecrestese, where a local association restored a community oven and, traditionally, blessed bread was distributed to the faithful after mass.

Goriški radič (Chicory from Goriška)

Solkan, Goriška region, SL

Vegetable In the Goriška region, the cultivation of Goriški radič began most probably in the second half of the 19th century but because of urbanisation, industrialisation, wars and expropriations, its production declined and almost disappeared during the 20th century. Similar to the most known Trevisan radicchio from which it probably originated, the chicory from Goriška is often likened to a winter rose for its aesthetic quality (the “Gorizia rose”) and is in the process of being marketed internationally to haute cuisine restaurants. Beyond its use as salad, various recipes have been developed. The local tourism destination organisation highlights food and cultural events centred upon this product.

Soča trout Tolmin, Goriška region, SL

Fish and fish-based products

Soča is a wild species of trout that had almost disappeared due to crossbreeding with brown trouts. After the discovery of genetically pure populations in isolated rivers in the 1980s and 1990s, the upper part of the Soča River and its tributaries have been repopulated. In 1989, the Tolmin Fishing Association built a new hatchery, and fish farms were established in the Tolminka river in the 1990s and 2000s in collaboration with the Ljubljana Fisheries Institute. Fishing is an important recreational activity in the area, well integrated in the tourist offer, and managed with the help of the Angling (i.e., sport fishing) Club of Tolmin.


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Table 4b – ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of retro-innovations

Product Area Typology Relevant aspects Modlbutter Zillertal, Tyrol,

AU Milk and dairy products

Made from hay milk, Modlbutter has a recognizable nutty taste due to the maturation of cream before the butter is kneaded. As customary throughout the Alps, in the area butter was made in decorated forms through wood-carved butter molds. The Zillertaler Heumilchsennerei dairy farm revived the custom, that had fell in disuse. Modlbutter was bestowed the “Qualitäts Tirol” label by Agrarmarketing Tirol (see Table 2).

Farina Bona Onsernone Valley, Canton of Ticino, CH

Cereals (roasted corn flour)

Farina bona is a roasted corn flour, used mixed with water, milk or wine, and eaten salty or sweet. After WWII, due to changing food habits its importance faded; its production stopped when the last mill closed in 1957. In 1991, the local museums carried out research on its production in connection to the restoring of the mill, and contributed to re-introduce its production. In 2001 the product was included in Slow Food’s Ark of Taste, and thanks to the involvement of some private citizens and the local school, further steps were carried out to promote farina bona outside the Valley. In 2007, the Onsernone Museum, the Mills associations, and the individual producers founded the Farina Bona project. A Slow Food Presidium was later founded in 2008, thanks to which farina bona was widely distributed by Coop Suisse (see Table 6). New uses of farina bona respect to the traditional ones have been developed over the years (ice creams, beer, grissini, cookies, cake, bread, soups, etc.), also through public recipe competitions.

Luberon Bread made with Apt Milling Wheat

Apt, Haute-Provence, FR

Cereal (wheat)

Apt wheat is an ancient variety of wheat cultivated in Apt, a city in the Luberon region, on the Albion plateau in Banon County. This variety of wheat was particularly used in the production of fresh pastas and breads, such as the famous “Luberon Bread”. Apt wheat farming was progressively abandoned in Haute-Provence during the last half of the 20th century, substituted by higher-yield grains. Nearly extinct in 1980, five years later a technician from the Luberon Regional Nature Park obtained old seeds of Apt wheat from a retired farmer in Buoux. The seeds were entrusted to a few local farmers who agreed to grow the wheat again. Today, the Luberon Regional Nature Park and Agribio04, the association that brings together the organic producers of the Alps of Haute-Provence region, are the two main actors behind the revival of the Apt wheat heritage. The network, which also includes 10 local bakers, 6 farmers and 1 mill, works together to promote and safeguard the Luberon’s Apt bread and flour. In 2005 the label

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“Luberon Apt wheat bread and flour” was created with the aim to re-launch and protect this ancient variety. The label provides members with communication materials, and product specifications to ensure quality control and to protect the authenticity of the product. In the same year, Slow Food included the Apt wheat into the “Ark of Taste” list.

Bresaola L’Originaria (Original Bresaola)

Poggiridenti, Lombardy, IT

Meat and meat-based products (cured meats)

Bresaola is an air-dried, salted beef aged for 2-3 months until it becomes hard and turns dark red, that has been produced in Valtellina since the early Middle Ages. In 1996, the Bresaola produced in the Valtellina and Valchiavenna areas obtained the PGI protection, following which in 1998 a Consortium of Bresaola Safeguarding was created, regrouping the producers following the PGI product specifications, which do not require that the beef used is of local origin. Today, most PGI breasaola is produced using frozen meat coming from European and South-American countries, including Brazilian zebu meat (zebu is a cattle breed originating from South Asia, whose meat has reduced fat content that makes it adapt to bresaola production). Following public outcry on the ‘zebu’ scandals in 2008, Mottolini, a Consortium producer, with the support of Coldiretti (the Italian farmers’ association), started a project aiming to produce bresaola from traditional cattle breeds raised in the Sondrio province. The ‘Bresaola l’Originaria’ project involved various local farmers and suppliers, and received heightened visibility resulting in the successful launch on the market of this product. In July 2017, following this precedent, Rigamonti, the bresaola market leader, signed an agreement with Coldiretti to start a 3-year process to substitute zebu meat with Italian cattle, fostering the re-introduction and development of an almost disappeared Italian meat supply chain.

Buckwheat in Valtellina

Valtellina, Lombardy, IT

Buckwheat Buckwheat growing was progressively abandoned in Valtellina during the last half of the 20th century, despite the popularity of numerous local typical dishes (black polenta, pizzoccheri, chisciol, sciatt) that had to be prepared with less expensive, non-local buckwheat flour. Buckwheat was reintroduced in Valtellina during the 1980s thanks to a famer-activist who retrieved old seed varieties, the Swiss biodiversity foundation Pro Specie Rara, and Slow Food, which established a Presidium in 2001. Various other actors have contributed to the buckwheat revival in the area, including the Academy of Pizzocchero of Teglio (founded in 2002) and the Chisciol Brotherhood of Tirano (founded in 2006, see Table 2), both aiming at promoting these two specialties providing ‘official’ recipes and supporting local fairs and events; Punto.Ponte, a network of food activists who runs the Risc-Food project that aims to certify the local origin of ingredients of Valtellina food products; the municipality of Teglio, which supported financially

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farmers for the cultivation of buckwheat and helped with the restoration of the local Menaglio mill; and the Association for the Cultivation of Teglio’s Buckwheat and Traditional Mountain Cereals, founded in 2010 and comprising 10 local farmers, which run the Menaglio mill and offers guided tours on the buckwheat heritage.

Orobiche Valleys Traditional Stracchino

Taleggio Valley, Lombardy, IT


Taleggio is a semisoft, washed-rind, smear-ripened cheese named after the Taleggio Valley. It was once called stracchino, which is a generic name for squared-shaped cheeses produced during the descent of cows from high-mountain pastures, when cows produced a smaller amount of milk and were said to be tired (stracche, in the local dialect). At the beginning of the 20th century local producers started to use the Taleggio name from similar cheeses. With time, the production of Taleggio extended from to the entire Po Valley and from high-mountain pastures to lower lands with industrial methods. In 1981, a Consortium for the Safeguarding of Taleggio Cheese was created. In 1996, Taleggio obtained a PDO recognition; it can now be produced in Lombardy and in some areas of Piedmont and Veneto. Producers from the Taleggio Valley, representing a minority in the Consortium, had long tried to obtained some form of symbolic or financial compensation for being the place of birth of Taleggio, but without results. With the help of Slow Food, some of these producers revived the traditional production methods of the Taleggio, naming it stracchino. The Slow Food Presidium of the Orobiche Valleys Traditional Stracchino was established with the cooperation of the Mountain Communities of Brembana and Imagna Valley, the Bergamo’s Chamber of Commerce, and the Province of Bergamo.


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Table 4c – ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases of living Intangible Cultural Heritage products

Product Area Typology Relevant aspects Tyrolean Grey Cheese

Tyrol, AU


Grey Cheese (Graukäse) is a strongly flavoured sour milk cheese that has been a key element of Tyrol’s rural culinary traditions for several centuries. Long considered a side product, when it was granted a PDO in 1996 it started to be commercially valorised. Market success also linked to the fact that it is an ingredient for Kaspressknödel, a traditional Tyrolean recipe appreciated by tourists.

Walserstolz Cheese

Valley of Wals, Vorarlberg, AU


The Walserstolz (literally, ‘the pride of the Walser’) is a traditional cheese produced for over 600 years by the local Walser community. Today, it is produced by two actors with different claims to the local heritage. Today, Walserstolz is a trademark owned by the Swiss dairy group EMMI, which buys milk from local farmers. The Walserstolz brand is promoted by highlighting its link to the valley’s tradition and geography (since 2000, the area is a UNESCO biosphere reserve). A Walserstolz-type cheese is also produced by the successful Käserebellen firm, which claim to produce cheese more in line with the area heritage from daily-fresh hay milk conferred by 280 local farms.

Alp Sbrinz Cheese

Cantons of Lucerne, Uri, Schwyz, Obwalden and Nidwalden, district Muri in the canton of Aargau, CH


Sbrinz is one of Switzerland’s most famous cheeses, protected by a PDO since 2002. Originally produced only in mountain pastures during the summer, the production has now extended to the valleys all year round and is characterised by more industrialised production methods. Only 10 of today’s 30 PDO producers are located on alps. Slow Food established a Presidium involving three mountain dairies with stricter and more traditional product specifications respect to those of the PDO. Sbrinz heritage is accessible to tourist through the Sbrinz route experience (see Table 5).

Churer Beinwurst (Chur Salami)

Chur, Canton of Grisons, CH

Meat and meat-based products

Beinwurst (‘leg sausage’) was a cheap bratwurst traditionally made from leftover cuts of pork, whose production and consumption had mostly been abandoned with the improvement of living conditions. Slow Food established a Presidium with two butchers who employ pigs from local farms that are fattened in mountain pastures during the summer and fed with the whey leftover from cheese making. Compared to the past, today some more valuable cuts of pork are employed. The product is distributed by Coop Suisse (see Table 6).

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Rye bread of the Canton of Valais


Cereals (rye bread)

Production of rye had been progressively abandoned in the canton until, in the 1990s, the Cantonal Chamber of Agriculture brought together producers, millers and bakers to halt the trend. The EU granted the PDO designation, requested in 1997, in 2004. Notably, one of the opponents was Coop Suisse, which used to sell Valaisian rye bread produced elsewhere. The Association du Pain de Seigle Valaisan (Association of Canton Valais rye bread), now represents the entire cantonal rye supply chain. In 2007, Slow Food established a Presidium for the rye bread produced by the Arnold Bakery, which adopts a more traditional rye bread recipe (pure rye flour, water, salt and chef leven) respect to the PDO product specifications (which allow for the possibility of using up to 10% of wheat flour). Coop Suisse now distributes the Slow Food Valais rye bread (see Table 6). Among the ‘things to do’ in Valais, seven ‘baking rye bread’ experiences are proposed by Valais/Wallis Promotion (see Tables 2 and 5).

Schabziger Cheese

Canton of Glarus, CH


Schabziger is a cheese from the Canton of Glarus made from sour cow milk. Its supply chain is dominated by two actors: the Glarner Milk AG dairy cooperative, which buys milk from 21 Glarus farmers, and its consociated GESKA (Gesellschaft Schweizer Kräuterkäse-Fabrikanten), which was formed in 1924 by the seven largest Schabziger producers and, since 2003, is the only company that produces this cheese. GESKA has innovated production methods and has an assortment of Schabziger product variants. Consumers can visit both the factory and some of the alp milk-producing farms.

Beaufort Cheese Beaufortain/Val d’Arly, Tarentaise and Maurienne, Savoie, FR


Beaufort is a traditional Savoie cheese whose production declined in the 1945-60s period. In 1961, local farmers created a dairy cooperative. The Union of Beaufort Producers (UBP), in cooperation with various research institutions, obtained the PDO protection in 1968. Thanks to this, as well as to the development of mechanical milking and the partial industrialisation of hay making, production of Beaufort greatly increased. In 1975, the Syndacat de Defense du Beaufort (Beaufort Protection Syndicate, BPS) was created to manage the PDO and ensure quality control. The PDO product specifications allow for three varieties of Beaufort based on where it is produced: ‘baseline’ Beaufort, produced between November and May in valleys from cows mainly fed with hay (the largest part of the production, 70,100 wheels in 2016); Beauford d’Eté (Summer Beaufort), produced during the summer when the cattle are in the Alps (approximately

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57,000 wheels in 2016); and Beaufort Chalet d’Alpage (Alp Beaufort), produced in the summer following traditional methods (the smallest production, less than 10,000 wheels in 2016). On the touristic side, various ‘Beaufort experiences’ (e.g. outdoors activities, alp tours, experiential showcases) enable visitors to access this product’s ICH (see Table 5). Like other traditional Savoie cheeses, Beaufort is promoted by AFTALP (see Table 2).

Reblochon Cheese

Savoie, FR Milk and dairy products

Reblochon is a soft cheese made in Savoie from raw cow’s milk. At the beginning of the 20th century, its production was still small and directed to the local market. Thanks to the development of the rail network, tourism and winter sports the Reblochon became quickly known throughout France, and in 1968 its producers obtained the PDO, which defined production methods and areas. The Syndicat interprofessionnel du Reblochon, created in 1971, now regroups 520 milk producers, 19 dairies who use milk conferred by various producers, 130 farmer producers, and 11 ripeners. The PDO allows for the production of two varieties of Reblochon identifiable through the colour of their casein pellet: dairy-produced Reblochon (red pellet) and farm-produced Reblochon (‘Reblochon fermier’, green pellet, which is more expensive). Another collective actor, the Union des Producteurs de Reblochon Fermier, founded in 1982, focused on the later. Reblochon is at the center of the ‘Fête du Reblochon’, held in La Clusaz around August 15th (see Table 8). The festival involves all the actors of the Rablochon production chain and it includes showcase activities, tasting experiences, and a cattle parade. Another summer cheese festival, the ‘Fête des Fromage de Savoie’ (see again Table 8), organised under the coordination of AFTALP (see Table 2), promotes Reblochon together with other Savoie cheeses.

Tome des Bauges Cheese

Massif des Bauges, Savoie and Haute Savoie, FR


The Tome has been a traditional family cheese in the Massif des Bauges since at least the 17th century. During the 20th century, cheese makers in the area started to produce the more profitable Emmental and slowly abandoned other typical cheeses such as Chevrotin, Gruyere, and the Tome. In 1968, Beaufort cheese received the PDO certification. This example encouraged producers from the Massif des Bauges area to organise themselves. Emmental was suffering from the competition coming from Beaufort, so they decided to focus on the Tome, whose production required a more limited quantity of milk, and which was unique to the area and profoundly linked to the traditional practice of transhumance to high pastures and haymaking during the Summer. In 1972, the “Tome des Bauges” brand was registered. In 1986, the SITOB (Syndicat Interprofessionnel de la Tome des Bauges) was formed with the goal to valorise the

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Tome and obtain a Controlled Designation of Origin (CDO). The process to develop product specifications was not easy, as different points of view emerged regarding the actual area of production and the admitted cattle breeds. Eventually, a compromise among producers, the SITOB and the National Institute of the Designation of Origin (INAO) was made, and the CDO was obtained in 2002. Since 2017, the Tome has also benefitted from the UE-sanctioned PDO designation. Product specifications allow for two Tome varieties: the dairy Tome des Bauges, produced by 5 dairy cooperatives (906 tons in 2014, or 87% of total production), and farm Tome des Bauges, produced by 13 individual farmers (120 tons, or 13% of total production). Production of the latter has over the year declined, as its greater costs are not necessarily compensated by higher sales prices. Since 2008, Tome producers have engaged with practices aimed at protecting the biodiversity of thanks pastures thanks to the ‘Flowering Meadows’ agri-environment scheme that financially supports the preservation of high floral diversity in meadows, which also has positive effects on animal welfare, milk quality, and cheese flavour. The Parc Naturel Régional du Massif des Bauges (PNRMB) has since 2010 promoted the national ‘Flowering Meadows’ contest, which rewards farmers whose meadows and pastures have the best agro-environmental balance. Thanks to these and other initiatives coordinated by SITOB and PNRMB, Tome des Bauges producers are collectively reflecting on the role played by biodiversity in animal breeding and are experimenting with new haymaking practices to optimise economic viability and flower diversity preservation.

Bitto Cheese / Historical Rebel

Bitto Valleys, Lombardy, IT


Bitto is an alp cheese that has been produced during the summer in the Bitto river valleys since at least the 5th century. During the 20th century, its production diffused to other nearby areas. Despite the constitution of a Voluntary Consortium for the Bitto Cheese (1970), during the decade that followed production started to decrease as a consequence of the modernisation processes affecting mountain life. In 1983, the Chamber of Commerce, Agriculture and Industry of Sondrio created the collective ‘Valtellina’ brand, reserving the right to call Bitto only cheese produced in the Bitto Valleys. In 1995, Bitto received the PDO denomination and an official Consortium of Valtellina Casera and Bitto was created; product specifications extended production areas and allowed for more industrialised production methods. This triggered the reaction of a group of so-called ‘Bitto rebels’. In 2003, with the help of Slow Food a ‘Historical Bitto’ Presidium was founded. Relationships between the Consortium and the ‘Rebels’ were tense, although occasional truces were made (most notably during the 2015 Expo in Milan, with

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marked the so-called ‘Bitto peace’). In 2016, following fines to the Rebels due to the fact that their traditional production methods did not respect the PDO product specifications, Historical Bitto was publicly declared dead and renamed it ‘Storico Ribelle’ (Historical Rebel). Rebels can no longer legally use the Bitto name for their cheese.

Idrijski žlikrofi (Dumpling)

Idrija, Goriška region, SL

Traditional recipe

Idrijski žlikrofi are a national dish of Slovenia made from dough with a potato filling and a characteristic shape, associated to the town of Idrija since the 19th century. Homemade žlikrofi are a frequent item on many local families’ menu and it is a highly appreciated side or main dish served by some restaurants and farm tourism establishments. Frozen can be found in many supermarket freezers all over Slovenia. Granted ‘traditional product’ status by the Slovenian Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food in 2002, the product was registered by the EU under the Traditional Specialty Guaranteed (TSG) protection scheme by the Society for the Promotion and Preservation of Idrija Dishes (Društvo za promocijo in zaščito idrijskih jedi) in 2010. Restaurants and farm tourism establishments that serve this dish can be recognised by the 'Traditional Food Served' sign and the logo of the Society for the Promotion and Protection of the Traditional Dishes of Idrija. The dish is at the center of the Idrija žlikrofi festival (end of August; see Table 9) and, to a minor extent, the Idrija Lace festival (mid-June).

Sir Tolminc (Tolminc cheese)

Upper Soča Valley, Goriška region, SL


Tolminc is one of the most known Slovenian cheeses, whose production dates back to at least the 13th century. The making of Tolminc, as the cheese was eventually dubbed, has remained largely unchanged for centuries, even though during the 20th century master cheese makers from Italy and Switzerland were occasionally brought in to improve the taste in line with the latest trends. Tolminc was granted PDO status in 2012; despite this, production is declining and only 20 mountain dairies today still produce it. Tolminc is integrated in the tourism destination offer, through the Frika festival (September, Tolmin, Soča Valley; Frika is a local specialty made of fat, potato and cheese, and one of the most known variety is made with Tolminc); the Planika ‘from pasture to dairy’ museum, which attracts 8-10,000 visitors per year and showcase the area’s cheese heritage (see Table 5); and the tourist package ‘Tasty Cheese Tour’, which offers the possibility to experience the area’s cheese heritage through visits to cheese dairies and ‘shepherd’s lunches’.


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As a result, they now sell their cheese under the name of Storico Ribelle (Historical Rebel). A somewhat similar case is that of the Walserstolz cheese, linked to the presence of the Walser community in Austria. Walserstolz is now a trademark of the Swiss dairy group EMMI, who uses in its advertising symbolism and imagery related to this heritage. The Käserebellen (cheese rebels) brand contests this positioning with their Walserstolz-type cheese that, produced from daily-fresh hay milk conferred by local breeders, appears more in line with the cheese heritage. Conflicts and tensions can however act as catalysts of mobilisation processes to safeguard heritage products. For example, Cheese producers in the Taleggio Valley (again, Lombardy, Italy) have similarly witnessed a wide extension of the Taleggio cheese production area; while still part of the Taleggio consortium, these producers have engaged in retro-innovation by reviving the production of an old, heritage variety of Taleggio, named Stracchino, with the sanction of Slow Food. 5.2 Survivals, retro-innovations and living ICH products Our case study analysis identified various forms of ICH-consistent products and innovations, which we term survivals, retro-innovations, and living ICH innovation, which may co-exist in the same area. Survivals (see Table 4a). This typology includes traditional Alpine food products that, with limited adaptations, have kept being produced ‘as they used to do in the past’, often in the context of family businesses. The term ‘survivals’ hints at the fact that in many peripheral mountain areas, because of various factors (including depopulation, changes in material and social condition, economic factors, the advent of mass tourism), heritage products and production practices have disappeared. Survivals are exceptions to this general trend that have resisted macro-level modernization forces – sometimes outside of market exchanges, as in the case of production for family consumption or hobby - long enough for current developments in food consumer culture to make them fashionable and economically viable. Survivals may refer to different historical periods. A product can be produced the way it used to be in the 1850s, 1910s, or 1950s, and still qualify as survival under our categorization. If severely scrutinized, all survivals would be found to have made concessions to food safety regulations, modernization processes, and today’s life conditions and technology. Still, the scale of changes is much reduced respect to the cases we qualified as living ICH productions. Survivals are often the result of broader mobilization processes that link together internal actors (individuals and families who are heritage holders, local associations, museums and cultural institutions, elected officials, restaurants, etc.) with external actors (such as the Slow Food movement, agricultural research institutions, seed banks and other biodiversity-supporting organisations, State agencies) in collective safeguarding and promotional projects. At the core of these processes is the realization that local heritage that

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had been devalued and was at risk of disappearing has both cultural and economic value. Retro-innovations (see Table 4b). Local producers may innovate by taking inspiration in an area’s past products and production methods and offer goods that are produced “the way they used to” in a specific period. Sources of knowledge for retro-innovations might include historical research, family archives, or direct transmission from older generations who still remember traditional know-how. Retro-innovations often require the restructuring of local supply chains and the re-introduction of traditional plant varieties and animal breeds, which often requires input from State agencies and agricultural research organisation. One relevant distinction is between revived products, reconstructed according to historical sources, and those that benefit from a direct local transmission of traditional know-how. Only the latter is coherent with UNESCO’s notion of living ICH. As in the case of survivals, retro-innovations typically make concession, at least to some extent, to food safety regulations, market needs, and technological developments. Living ICH innovations (see Table 4c). These products are a manifestation of a living heritage, constantly recreated by communities and groups in response to a changing environment and new market opportunities. Farmers and food producers often innovate their product mix and improve on production methods. It is sometimes difficult to clearly distinguish heritage-consistent products from those that are not. In our categorization, living ICH innovations are those that: (i) have been continuously produced in the area (in other words, they are not retro-innovations); (ii) have changed their production methods respect to the past in significant ways (in other words, they are not survivals); are accepted by the local community as part of the area’s heritage. Since communities vary, innovations considered inconsistent with the local heritage somewhere (for example because it is based on non-local plant varieties/animal breeds or adopts industrialized production methods) might be promptly accepted as traditional elsewhere. Even those innovations that are locally resisted at the time of their introduction can over time be legitimized and eventually perceived as traditional. ICH-based innovation is not necessarily at odds with technology. Technological innovation is consistent with the notion of living heritage and may help ensure higher levels of product quality and safety, as well as reduce the costs and labour intensity of production processes. The extent to which technological innovation does not distort the nature and meaning of traditional food is however often subject to heated debates among producers and other relevant stakeholders. Collective trademarks such as the EU’s geographical labels are often a trigger for such conflict-laden debates (see above). Innovation studies have long suggested that ‘no firm is an island’, and this looks particularly true in the case of small food producers in peripheral mountain areas where network processes and collective action involving private, public

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and non-profit actors – local and non-local alike – is required. Often, local governments and/or non-profit organisations play an important role both in the survival and retro-innovation of ICH-products. The Valle d’Aosta Region, for example, has provided financial support to the restoration of traditional community ovens, which have proven instrumental in the preservation of traditional rye bread ICH. The Swiss Foundation Pro Specie Rara safeguards biodiversity and has been instrumental in the re-introduction of rare animal breeds and plant varieties on the verge of extinction. At the international level, the Slow Food movement has provided helpful cultural resources and support to countless groups of local producers for the safeguarding and commercial valorisation of ICH-consistent products. Inside communities, group of producers often cooperate – informally or formally through consortia, trade associations, and other organisational forms – not only in the collective promotion of their products, but also with respect to innovation, for example in the establishment of more or less binding guidelines on product specifications, quality and safety controls, adaptation to law requirements. 5.3 The marketing challenge for ICH-consistent products: Justifying higher prices From a marketing perspective, the term price refers to the amount a customer pays for a product. The key decision in this domain is price setting, which may be influenced by production costs, customers’ willingness to pay, and the cost of competing products. Food production in mountain areas is more expensive than in non-mountain areas. Previous studies have not reached clear conclusions on consumers’ willingness to pay a premium price for mountain products, even when they are protected by geographical indication schemes. Even consumers who have a positive attitude towards these products are not necessarily inclined to prefer them to alternatives and/or pay a higher price. A study4 found that some EU mountain products are indeed sold at a premium price, but others are sold at prices comparable to those of lowland products; for some product categories, it is the lowland product that is sold at a premium price. Mountain cheese, milk and honey may be sold at a higher price than average, but this varies across countries. Another study5 on geographical indications (GI) found that products labelled PGO or PGI achieve a price premium over the corresponding standard products, but exceptions exist and an extreme variability in the extent of the price premium for GI products was observed (Areté, 2013). In most cases, the gross margin for end GI products is higher than for standard products, but in the case of farmers supplying agricultural raw materials, the situation is less conclusive. Key factors for obtaining a higher gross margin include: intrinsic product differentiation of PDO/PGI products; effective marketing strategies and tools (e.g., short market chains and export-oriented strategies); consumer awareness and support to promotion.

4 Revoredo-Giha, C. and Leat, P. (2012), “Premia for differentiated products at the retail level: can the market put a value on the mountain attribute?”, Agricoltura 9 (1-2): 49-59. 5 Arete (2013), Study on assessing the added value of PDO/PGI products, Executive Summary. Commissioned Study by the European Commission, December. http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/external-studies/added- value-pdo-pgi_en.htm

http://ec.europa.eu/agriculture/external-studies/added-%20value-pdo-pgi_en.htm

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Obtaining fair prices for ICH-consistent Alpine food products is even more difficult since productions costs tend to be higher than those of non-heritage mountain products. Historically, many Alpine areas have been confronted with the abandonment of agriculture and food production activities and consequent cultural heritage loss, as farmers and food producers, finding it impossible to transfer higher production costs into higher prices, have been driven out of the market. If appropriately communicated, however, products stemming from an area’s ICH may – in some cases and for some market segments – can be sold to retailers and consumers at a premium price that compensates higher production costs and makes them profitable. Depending on quantities produced and objective or perceived differences with non-heritage product alternatives (taste, etc.), ICH-consistent products can also be positioned as luxury products because of their relative rarity and higher costs. Paying fair prices to heritage food producers is therefore important for the continuing survival of these products and the transmission of know-how to younger generations. Price differentials can therefore be justified not only by objective or perceived quality differences, but also on ethical grounds according to the fair trade logic. 6. ICH-consistent experiences Experiences assemble products and services to create added-value market offerings with various degrees of consistency with an area’s ICH. They play an important role in the commercial valorisation of Alpine food ICH because they can provide a means for consumers to access an area’s intangible cultural heritage in a more complete, extensive, immersive and meaningful manner respect to what is possible with ICH-consistent products alone. In other words, products ‘do not speak for themselves’; experiences provide opportunities to tell more vivid, meaningful and memorable stories about an area’s ICH. Experiences also provide opportunities for encounters with people who are heritage holders such as farmers, food producers, and chefs. They also permit to put into relation agriculture, food production and tourism and support local short supply chains and transversal food networks in innovative manners. Heritage experiences can be part of a destination’s cultural tourism offer, yet members of local communities are important targets of these experiences, too, for at least two reasons. First, experience-based tourist products without local attendance might be disconnected to the area’s tradition and may result in various problems that are mitigated by strong local participation. Second, targeting local consumers contributes to raising awareness and generating interest in the area’s ICH, particularly when younger generations are involved. This might contribute to the inter-generational transmission of such heritage and its ongoing viability.

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Table 5 – ICH-consistent experiences: Illustrative cases

Experience Area Relevant aspects Lumbering Museum

Bad Goisern, AU In the Salzkammergut area, salt mines required much wood and originated a rich lumberjack culture in the local forests that the Bad Goisern Lumbering Museum brings to life. In 1977, the local village preservation society retrieved and restored an old wood cabin where workers used to sleep and turned it into a museum, complete with original equipment and tools. Inside, lumberjacks used to cook around the open fire many local dishes, including holzknechtnocken (dumplings), which are one of the area’s traditional recipes (see Table 4a). Museum visitors can now experience a 30’ guided tour, which include live demonstration of Holzknechtnocken preparation. The museum is open during the summer. Entrance ticket is €5 (reduced to €2.5 for children).

Food and wine experiences in Canton Valais


Valais/Wallis promotion, the organisation that promotes the Canton of Valais (see Table 2), has recently re-organised its activities around four thematic areas (winter sports, biking, families, and food and wine tourism) that respond to specific tourist market needs. In each of these areas, teams of experts in collaboration with relevant stakeholders have been working to develop attractive tourist experiences. For what concerns wine, Valais/Wallis Promotion has worked since 2014 with the Interprofession de la Vigne et du Vin (Inter-professional Association for Vineyards and Wine) and other relevant actors to develop a cantonal wine tourism offer bringing together wine tasting, hospitality, cultural visits and food discovery. Wineries, restaurants, hotels and destination management organisations have developed a series of offers and packages, which can be reserved through the valais.ch web site. A wine tourism charter, signed by 105 operators, guarantees consistent wine experience quality. For what concerns food, the ‘Valais cuisine’ project has given itself the goal to strengthen collaboration between agriculture and tourism by creating experiences that allow tourists to live local products in an interactive manner by following the rhythm of seasons, focusing on apricots in summer, on wine and vineyards in fall, on the Valaisan Raclette cheese PDO in winter, and on asparagus during the spring. Other experiences that are currently promoted by the organisation include baking rye bread in traditional ovens; visits to chestnut groves; and experiences linked to saffron, include visits to fields, educational trails, and visits to a saffron museum. See also Table 7 for a description of the Taste of Valais restaurant network.

La Maison du Gruyère (The House of

Pringy-Gruyères, CH

The first Swiss demonstration cheese dairy, Laiterie de Gruyères, was created in 1969 in Pringy, at the foot of the hill of Gruyères and its castle, with the goal to promote the PDO Gruyère cheese and its production area (investment: CHF 1.7 million). Attracting 100,000 visitors in its inaugural year, it was extended and

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Gruyere) improved in 1977. In the 1990s, the ageing of installations and inadequate tourist infrastructures determined a decrease in the number of visitors from a peak of 312,000 to about 190,000 in 1997, and triggered the decision to build a new cheese dairy (investment: CHF 9,695,000). La Maison du Gruyère opened its doors in 2000: the renovated dairy featured cutting-edge technology, a new storage cellar, and a sensorial and interactive exhibition containing a visitors’ gallery overlooking the cheese dairy and providing live viewings of Gruyère cheese production 3 to 4 times a day. A ‘Marché Gruérien’ (a shopping area for cheese, local produce and crafts, and souvenirs) and a restaurant completed the Gruyere experience offered to visitors. Initially managed by subcontractors, the Marché Gruèrien since the end of 2012 has been run by the Laiterie that have re-organised the area. The restaurant, managed by external contractors, offers Gruyere PDO dishes as well as regional specialities prepared with local products. The Maison du Gruyère is a fully functional dairy; depending on the season, 30 to 35 producers supply more than 6 million litres of milk that is processed into Gruyère PDO (48 wheels per day). The cellar can accommodate 7,000 wheels. In 2015, the Maison du Gruyère welcomed over 650,000 guests, of which more than 150,000 visited the exhibition “Gruyere PDO, a journey to the heart of senses”. The visit, lasting 30 to 45’ minutes, takes place with audio phones; the audio information is available in 13 languages. The Laiterie’s staff consists of 27 employees, equivalent to 12 full-time posts. The Maison also hosts the headquarters of the Interprofession du Gruyère, the association that since 1997 brings together the PDO Gruyere supply chain (milk producers, cheese makers, and ripeners). During the summer, the Maison du Gruyère is connected to the alpine cheese dairy of Moléson-sur-Gruyère through Le Sentier des fromageries (the cheese dairy trail), consisting of two trails (each a 2-hour walk) that enable visitors to experience the Gruyère cultural landscape (pasturelands, alpine chalets, etc.).

Musée Gruérien Bulle, CH Founded in 1917, the museum examines and highlights the cultural heritage of the Gruyère Region. The permanent exhibition, “Gruyere – Footprints and detours”, has a thematic section dedicated to the cultural history of Gruyere cheese that includes reconstructions of farmers’ rooms, mountain cheese dairies, and various objects linked to the area’s pastoral life. Thanks to the exhibition, visitors can make sense of the history of the Gruyère region between the 16th and the 20th century and the important role played by the farming of mountain pastures and the trading of Gruyere cheese. The exhibition is sponsored by the Interprofession du Gruyere, the organisation that manages the Gruyere Cheese PDO.

Private Heimatbrauer tour and

Chiemgau and Berchtesgadener Land, Bavaria, D

The “Private Heimatbrauer” (private home breweries) partnership was founded in 2015 for the promotion of Bavarian beer culture. Involves the Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) of the regions Chiemgau and Berchtesgadener Land and 11 small, privately owned traditional breweries. These

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experiences award-winning breweries work according to the Bavarian purity law of 1516, which limited beer ingredients to water, barley, hops, and yeast, and use traditional family recipes. The DMOs promote through their websites and flyers the 11 breweries and the adjoining restaurants/beergardens and the beer-based experiences they propose, which include brewery tours, beer tastings, and brewing seminars. Another initiative is a cycling map with different tours to visit the breweries; the map is available online an in all tourist information offices in the two regions.

Museo Poschiavino

Poschiavo, Canton of Grisons, CH

The Poschiavo Museum, established in 1950, has the goal of raising awareness of the Poschiavo Valley’s cultural heritage and safeguard historical artefacts and documents to transmit them to future generations. It manages various sites: Casa Tomé (Tomé House), a farmer house that dates back to the Middle Age; Palazzo de Bassus-Menghi, a baroque palace built in 1655; the mill and pre-industrial complex of Aino; and Casa Besta in Brusio, a patrician mansion that hosts an ethnographic museum. A significant part of the museum’s activities are devoted to the local farming and food culture: the permanent exhibition on Poschiavo’s farmer heritage in Palazzo de Bassus-Menghi; the permanent exhibition dedicated to smuggling, cultivation of tobacco and wine making in Valtellina in Casa Besta; visits to the mill in the Aino pre-industrial complex; and various experiences in Casa Tomé and elsewhere. The latter, proposed under the umbrella name of “From the field to the table”, are centred on rye bread, buckwheat and other traditional products and link together the area’s tangible and intangible heritage. For example, the buckwheat experience (5 hours, including lunch, CHF 45 per person), starts at the Aino mill where the buckwheat supply chain is presented and visitors see the mill in function and continues in Casa Tomé, where visitors prepare together pizzoccheri (buckwheat tagliatelle) that will form the main dish for the communal lunch that will conclude the visit.

Sbrinz Route Lucerne, Stansstad, Alpnachstad – Jochpass, Brünigpass, Grimselpass, and Obergesteln – Griespass, CH/ Ponte, IT Domodossola

The Sbrinz route is one of Switzerland’s 12 cultural routes. It is named after the Sbrinz cheese (see Table 4c), as it follows the trade route used since the Middle Ages to transport the mature hard cheese from the production areas (the Engelberg valley) to the destination markets in central Switzerland and northern Italy. Once consisting of mule trails, the route has been redeveloped as a hiking tour, accessible with public transportation, that leads visitors from Lucerne through the mountain landscapes across the Grimsel and Gries passes to Domodossola in Italy. Its various itineraries enable visitors to experience the area’s productive landscapes, including pastures, historical dairies, and restaurants offering local products. Tourist packages with guides and pack animals have been developed. The Route is sponsored by Sbrinz Cheese GmbH, the marketing company that belongs to Sbrinz milk producers, cheese-makers and intermediary traders, which is funded by a fee charged per kg of Sbrinz sold.

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Schabziger Cheese Factory Visits

Glarus, Canton of Glarus, CH

GESKA (Gesellschaft Schweizer Kräuterkäse-Fabrikanten) is the only producer of Schabziger cheese. It was created in 1924 when seven large Schabziger producers merged (see Table 4). GESKA offers a factory tour (1h30’ to 2h) twice a day, from Monday to Thursday, to groups (minimum 15 people, maximum 55 people) at the price of CHF 10-15. The tour includes a welcome, a historical presentation of Schabziger (which is promoted as Switzerland’s oldest branded product), a visit to the factory, and it ends with product tastings and a visit to the factory outlet.

Beaufort Experiences

Val d’Arly, de la Tarentaise et de la Maurienne, Savoie, FR

The Syndicat de Defense du Fromage Beaufort, the organisation managing the PDO Beaufort cheese (see Table 4c), lists in its website all the experiences offered by associated dairies, shops, milk producers, affineurs, and alp cheese makers. Many members offer visitor experiences including food tastings; guided or free tours to pastures, farms, dairies, and cheese aging facilities; and exhibitions. In 2018, the Syndicat organised a Beaufort Tour (8 rendezvous in February March at ski resorts in Savoie, lasting a few hours, centered upon a Beaufort Village with DJ animation, cheese and wine tastings, and a fondue party) and a series of 50 experiences to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Beaufort PDO, including hikes to mountain pastures; cheese tastings; and encounters with farmers, cheese-makers and affineurs.

Savoie Cheese Route

Savoie, FR Managed by AFTALP (the Association of Traditional Savoyard Alp Cheeses, see Table 2), the Route is a network of sites (farms, dairies, storage and aging facilities, exhibitions, and mountain pastures) that offer visitors the possibility to experience Savoie’s living cheese making heritage. With only 27 sites at its lauch in 2004, the initiative has developed considerably over the years, with 60 sites in 2014 and 74 in 2018. The goals of the Route are to highlight the links between Savoie cheese and their territory and history; inform about the various stages of cheese production; promote quality products; create synergies between farming, rural development, and tourism; and enable exchanges between visitors and professionals in the milk and cheese supply chain. Member sites are considered ‘window displays’ for the Savoie cheese. Upon adhesion, which is voluntary, site managers commit to offer a quality experience to visitors.

Fontina Visitor Center

Valpelline, Aosta Valley, IT

Cooperativa Produttori Latte e Fontina (Milk and Fontina Producers’ Cooperative) was founded in 1957 with the goal of collecting, ageing and marketing the PDO Fontina cheese. In 2003, the Cooperative inaugurated a Visitor Center that provides accurate information about the history, the territory, and the methods of processing milk into fontina. The core of the experience is however the warehouse, obtained from cave mines, where thousands of fontina wheels are stored to mature, and where visitors learn how fontina is processed manually and aged until it reaches optimum ripeness. The experience ends with fontina cheese tastings and a visit to the store. The price for the visit is €3.

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Historical Rebel Bitto Centre

Gerola Alta, IT The Bitto Centre (now Historical Rebel Bitto Centre, see Table 4c) was created in 2007 by the Società Valli del Bitto Trading spa (Bitto Valleys Trading Stock Company), the firm constituted to buy Bitto cheese from local producers at fair prices and take care of its aging and commercialization. The site, owned by the municipality of Gerola, required an investment of €300,000 for renovation works and equipment purchase that was privately financed through a bank credit. The Centre hosts a casera (cheese storage and aging facility, which contains more than 3,000 Bitto wheels), an experiential showcase for cheese tasting, and a point of sales for Bitto of various ages and other local products (see alto Table 6).

Maison Bruil Introd, Aosta Valley, IT

Maison Bruil is a well-preserved farmer house whose current shape is the result of an architectural evolution from 1680 to 1856, when different wings of the building were joined together to form a single body. Now an ethnographic museum, it hosts a food culture exhibition titled “Preserving memory… remembering in order to preserve” that illustrates traditional food preparation and preservation methods. The museum is open all year (admissions: €4-2) and includes a shop with a selection of high quality local products managed by the online store tascapan.com (see Table 6). During the year, Maison Bruil also hosts food and wine tasting with farmers, cheese-makers, winegrowers and artisans.

Rye Eco-Museum Val Gesso, Piedmont, IT

The Rye Eco-museum, which is part of the Natural Park of Maritime Alps, is a network of organisations, activities and events in Val Gesso. It was created in 1995, when the district of Sant’Anna of Valdieri launched a project focused on the safeguard and valorisation of the rye heritage in the valley; it was later merged into the Park’s activities in 2000. The main objectives of the eco-museum are: to foster the local’s sense of belonging to the valley by raising awareness on the community’s cultural and historical roots; to animate cultural life and support local recovery projects; to develop a closer relationship between the territory and its inhabitants; to study local traditions; to promote and valorise local products. Main activities include research on Alpine culture and territory (thanks to which it was possible to rediscover the rye bear, a traditional mask of the Valdieri Carnival) and educational activities to raise awareness and share competence on local traditions. Two noteworthy projects, centred upon lavender and rye, have stimulated local farmers to revive cultivation of these crops and develop associated products, such as rye bread and lavender oil, and to valorise it through events in cooperation with the Park and destination management organisations. One of the Eco-Museum’s key sites is the Rye Civilization Museum, hosted in a building that used to be a tavern, which contains a permanent exhibition on local rye culture and serves as a meeting place for the Eco-museum’s activities. During the Carnival period, animation activities centred upon the rye bear have been developed; and festivals focusing on lavender and rye now take place in July and August. Various pedagogical experiences, targeting tourists but also the area’s schools, have been

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developed (e.g., rye bread making, etc.). Fishing the Soča trout

Tolmin, SL Fly fishing is promoted as a summer tourist attraction in the Soča valley. The Tolming Fishing Association played an important role in the repopulation of the Soča river of pure-breed Soča (marble) trouts, which had almost disappeared because of crossbreeding with brown trouts (see Table 4a). Besides providing information about local fish breeds (which also include the grayling, the brown trout, and crossbreeds between brown and marble trouts), fishing regulations, and fishing permits, the association help tourists contact fishing guides and find accommodation to facilitate fishing expeditions. Various local operators offer fishing packages including board and accommodation, fishing permits, and guiding services.

Planika “From Pasture to Dairy” Museum

Kobarid, SL Planika Dairy was established in 1995 by the Agricultural cooperative Tolmin with the goal to secure the purchase of milk from local farmers and bring back the production of Tolminc cheese (see Table 4c) after a former dairy had gone bankrupt. Part of the Dairy’s strategy was to increase awareness of the area’s farming and cheese-making heritage. After a few years dedicated to the renovation of the technological infrastructure, in 2009-10 the Dairy turned an old building used as a truck garage into a museum, with the cooperation of the Tolmin Museum that helped creating an ethnological exhibition titled “From Pasture to Dairy”. The exhibition presents the tradition of mountain pasture farming and cheese production with the help of various milk processing tools, historical pictures, and videos. Guided tours now include product tastings and practical demonstrations of traditional cheese-making procedures. At the museum shops, cheese and other milk products, as well as other local products, can be bought. The museum is open from May to October (admission fee is €1.90-2.70 per person) and is visited by 8-10,000 people annually. It has contributed to diversify the local tourism offer, mostly oriented towards outdoor tourism (the museums is a popular attraction in case of bad weather). The museum has created one full-time job and has (somewhat unexpectedly) played an important role in promoting not only the area’s food-related intangible cultural heritage but also the Planika dairy’s commercial activity.


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Table 5 reports illustrative examples of ICH-consistent experiences in the Alpine Space. Please note that in the context of our conceptual framework (see again par. 2.2), some typologies of experiences (i.e., retailing spaces, restaurants, cultural events and festivals, fairs and marketplaces) are discussed in other sections of this report. Here, we focus on permanent attractions such as museums and product showcases as well as tourist routes. Overall, 16 cases were compared and analysed. Key findings are discussed below. 6.1 Storytelling and taste education through experiences Almost all experiences we surveyed include the tasting of ICH-consistent products in immersive environments (such as crop fields, orchards, mountain pastures, breweries, wine cellars, dairies, production sites, and museums) that provide consumers the possibility to learn about traditional production methods and food culture. Sometimes, experiences provide a means to participate in the production process, for example by picking fruits or vegetables, fishing, baking bread or cooking a traditional recipe. Interaction with productive landscapes, built environments, physical artefacts, products and people who are heritage holders permit to understand the stories behind a specific ICH-consistent product. Experiences mix education elements with entertainment in different proportion, depending on whether the experience is offered by cultural institutions (for example, museums with educational activities targeting schools) or commercial ones (for example, a dairy or brewery firm). Storytelling and taste education are two key mechanisms that permit to differentiate ICH-consistent products from more industrialized alternatives and justify price differentials. Heritage stories can be about past inhabitants of an area and their ways of life, an innovative company or the inventor of a specific product, or people who were instrumental in safeguarding heritage products and production skills. Storytelling creates emotional resonance in audiences. Often, transmedia approaches are employed to tell stories across different media and platforms: live interaction with products, printed material, performing arts, on-site and on line audiovisual material, and social media posts. In this way side stories can be added to the main one resulting in more comprehensive and persuasive narrations. Storytelling is not only important for the commercial valorisation of ICH, but also for its safeguarding: while commercial institutions tend to use narration for marketing communications reasons, cultural institutions tend to gather stories to safeguard community memory and transmit it to future generations. For example, the Rye Eco-Museum in Val Gesso (Piedmont, IT) retrieved the tradition of the Rye Bear, a traditional carnival mask of the Valdieri Carnival, thanks to the stories told by the Valley’s elder who still remembered how to treat and braid the rye straw to make the bear costume. This know how was transferred to younger generations who revived the tradition. In Poschiavo (Canton of the Grisons, CH), bread-making and other cooking activities in the Tomé house are carried out by narrating the history of the Tomé sisters, the last

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inhabitants of the house before it was turned into a museum. The safeguarding of memory can result in very effective narrative strategies. Experiences also provide opportunities to educate the taste of consumers, for example by comparing wines from different grape varieties or cheeses at different stages of maturity, or by learning appropriate product pairings (such as the perfect wine or beer for a given cheese). Educating consumers to the taste of ICH-products is also an important means to highlight differences respect to industrialized products. Consumers who are used to mass-produced food do not necessarily prefer ICH-consistent products. Taste is shaped by socio-cultural forces, and this is why taste education approaches work best in tandem with storytelling, which can provide the context and rationale for appreciating taste differences. 6.2 The Price of Experiences Experiences can be considered both a high-value market offering and a promotional strategy to sell more effectively products and services6. In the former case, they should have prices (e.g., admission fees) that permit to break-even and make profits; in the latter, they can be offered for free or at a minimal price and paid for through marketing budgets, knowing that the real business is elsewhere (for example, in the sales of products at a museum shop). For example, AFTALP (the Association of Traditional Savoyard Alp Cheese, see Table 2) organises and supervises the Savoie Cheese Route and the Festival of Savoie Cheeses (see Tables 5 and 9) with funds coming from its marketing budget and, indirectly from its associated members. These two promotional initiatives are not intended to directly generate revenues for AFTALP. In contrast, the Maison du Gruyère (CH) charges an admission fee of CHF 7 per person (with reductions for children and groups) to visit its exhibition and see its dairy in function. In 2015, of the 650,000 guests who visited the attraction only 150,000 visited the exhibition. Significant revenues are arguably obtained through the Marché Gruyèrien (shop area) that, previously managed by a contractor, has been directly run by the Maison since 2012. The equation linking experience admission prices to profits is complicated by the fact that the cost to stage some experiences is sometimes partially or totally funded by public actors that in this way create positive externalities that benefit private enterprises. Many museums would not be able to operate without public financial support as their admission fees hardly cover expenses. Increasingly, cultural institutions need to rely on private sponsors to finance their activities. The Swiss Confederation and cantonal authorities financially support farmers for their role in preserving Switzerland’s landscape, which greatly contributes to the country’s tourist attractiveness. The Sbrinz route, once consisting of dangerous mule trails, was made publicly accessible thanks to public investments that made it accessible and safe, enabling its touristic exploitation.

6 See Pine, J. and Gilmore, J. (1999), The Experience Economy, Harvard Business School Press, Boston; and Schmitt, B (1999), Experiential Marketing: How to Get Customers to Sense, Feel, Think, Act, Relate to Your Company and Brands, Free Press, New York.

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Whether publicly of privately financed, the creation of experiences that promote an area’s ICH requires investments. Not all ICH-consistent products that we surveyed (see again Tables 4a, 4b and 4c) are promoted through experiences. One reason might be the insufficient private or public investments that would be necessary, for example, to create cultural spaces or purpose-built facilities as venues to showcase ICH (see again Par. 3 and Fig. 1). 6.3 Cooperation between cultural, commercial, and tourism promotion institutions The creation and staging of successful ICH-promoting experiences often require the mobilisation and cooperation of various actors: individuals and organisations; public and private; for profit and not-for-profit; focused on agriculture, food production, commerce, culture, and tourism; and ICH promotion can be a more or less central preoccupation. Some experiences were developed by creating cultural spaces or purpose-built facilities as venues to showcase an area’s ICH; by combining or bundling attractions to create a themed set in order to increase market appeal; by developing tour routes, circuits or networks or using/reviving existing ones (event and festival-based strategies are discussed in chap. 8). In the cases we examined, based on secondary sources, it was not always possible to understand who were the initiators and leading actors and how they secured the collaboration of contributing parties; yet, collective processes and networking approaches are always prominent. Sometimes, commercial actors create on their own experiences that over time become valuable tourist attractions: it is for example the case of the Maison du Gruyère (CH); the Milk and Fontina Producers’ Cooperative with its Fontina Visitor Center (IT); and AFTALP with its Route of Savoie Cheeses (FR). In a more ephemeral manner, the Syndacat de Defense du Fromage Beaufort (FR) animate ski resorts though Beaufort villages and experiences during the winter season. In other cases, experiences that raise awareness about local ICH-consistent products and have a tourism impact are developed by cultural institutions. This is for example the case of the Poschiavo Museum’s “From Field to Table” project (CH) or the Rye Eco-Museum’s initiatives (IT). In our sample, we also identified some experiences co-developed by cultural and commercial actors. It is the case of the Maison Bruil (IT), which has a strong partnership with the e-retailer tascapan.com, which manages the museum store and organises food-tasting experiences with farmers, cheese-makers, and other heritage producers. Another interesting case is the Planika Dairy (SL), which in cooperation with the Tolmin Museum created an ethnological exhibition, “From Pasture to Dairy”, that showcases the area’s mountain pasture farming and cheese heritage and contributes to diversify the area’s tourist offer. These experiences remain the exception, rather than the norm. Commercial and cultural actors are uneasy bedfellows, as their activities are governed by different institutional logics. For example, in the Canton of Fribourg (CH), the Gruyere cheese heritage is promoted by both the exhibition and dairy visits of the Maison du Gruyère with a commercial logic, and the Musée Gruérien, which

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with its exhibition provides a more historically grounded account of the area’s cheese culture. In smaller areas, inter-personal networks of influence might facilitate organisational collaboration. In larger contexts, more structured approaches are needed. Valais/Wallis Promotion (CH), the organisation promoting the Valais Canton, has adopted an integrated approach to the governance and development of experiences (see Table 2). Created in 2013 with the merger of the Valais Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Valais Chamber of Agriculture, Valais Tourism, and the Valais Brand Association, this cantonal organisation has adopted an experience-based strategy to the development of tourist attractions and packages. Working with teams of experts and involving relevant stakeholders, Valais/Wallis Promotion is in the process of designing experiences that bring together wine and food tasting, hospitality, cultural visits and live local products such as wine, apricots, asparagus, rye bread and raclette cheese following the rhythm of the seasons. Like in the case of tangible food products, the development of ICH-consistent touristic experiences needs to balance cultural and commercial needs, with the local community’s best interests in mind. Tourists often have romanticized, oversimplified, or caricatural images of an area’s ICH, filled with inaccurate portrayals and clichés. Tourism marketing often builds on and reinforces tourist stereotypes. Tourist experiences risk therefore to be designed to adapt to these tourist expectations, resulting in what has been referred to as the ‘dumbing down’ of heritage or, put differently, the creation of a ‘staged authenticity’7 that gives tourists the (false) impression to have access to the local culture. With insufficient cultural knowledge and limited time to appreciate local culture, tourists readily accept what is presented them as traditional. As a result, the intangible heritage can be distorted or diluted to the point of becoming disconnected from the local culture. Tourist experiences are also often de-contextualised: heritage is experienced outside of its physical and social spaces, and as a result, tourists are disconnected from the local population. The World Tourism Organization’s recommendations to develop ICH-based tourism products8 include:

- identifying stakeholders and establishing participation mechanism. Key players connected to ICH assets must be clearly identified and their opinion taken into account to ensure sustainability;

- maintaining authenticity. A balance must be struck between the commercialization of ICH tourism products to make them economically viable while preventing them from becoming over-commercialized (see again Figure 2);

7 MacCannell, D. (1973), “Staged authenticity: Arrangements of social space in tourist settings”, American Journal of Sociology 79 (3): 589-603. 8 UNWTO (2012), Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage. UNWTO, Madrid. Summary available online, http://ethics.unwto.org/publication/study-tourism-and-intangible-cultural-heritage.

http://ethics.unwto.org/publication/study-tourism-and-intangible-cultural-heritage


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- creating partnerships. Genuine partnerships are required between all relevant stakeholders (governments, the private tourism sectors, NGOs, and local communities);

- setting limits of acceptable change. To reduce tensions between commercial and cultural imperatives, community, heritage and tourism actors should engage in an ongoing dialogue on the limits of acceptable change. When developing tourism products, ICH should be adapted with cultural sensitivity and the involvement of local stakeholders;

- balancing education and entertainment. Showcasing ICH to tourists in an attractive manner requires a balance between education and entertainment (sometimes referred to as edutainment). Participatory workshops for visitors are a useful way of immersing tourist in meaningful cultural experiences and encounters with heritage practitioners;

- avoiding emphasis on short-term economic benefits. The value of heritage-based tourism exceeds its economic impact on the host area. Longer-term benefits can be enjoyed if tourism-generated revenues are reinvested into community projects and training programmes.

7. The distribution of ICH-consistent products Distribution channels are means through which customers can be provided access to products. ICH-consistent products are sometimes distributed through the informal economy. For example, these products can be produced for individual and family consumptions or exchanged as gifts in social networks. Commercial transactions in these cases are limited and do not require promotion or the establishment of distribution channels, as producer identities and whereabouts are common knowledge in local communities. To be commercially valorised, however, these products need to enter the formal economy and their producers need to adopt appropriate legal forms of business and respect food quality and safety regulations. In general, food products can be sold directly to consumers or through commercial intermediaries such as food retailers, independent specialty stores, wholesalers, importer, exporters, and e-commerce sites. Consumers buy food also through Ho.Re.Ca. channels (Hotel, Restaurants, and Catering, covered in par. 8). Consumer fairs, periodical marketplaces, festivals and cultural events can also be considered distribution channels for the purchase and consumption of food products (see chapters 9 and 10). Food products can be accessed locally, in the heritage areas, or non-locally, where consumer markets are situated. Mountain food products have historically faced difficulties in finding non-local distributors because of geographical distance and lower accessibility of production areas. Local markets in mountain areas are however seldom sufficient to make the production of Alpine food products economically viable, and producers try to escape local economic dependence and the seasonality of the tourist market through non-local distribution channels. A recent study on a

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sample of mountain food producers9 found that 61.2% of respondents market their products locally, 54.5% regionally, 64.9% nationally, 34.4% at the EU level; and 15.7% at the wider European or global level. ICH-consistent food products face additional difficulties respect to other typologies of mountain products: not only they need to make their quality stand out and legitimize price differentials in retail outlets (see again par. 5.3), but also the fact that they are available in smaller quantities and, often, only seasonally. 7.1 Direct distribution and cooperative solutions In our map of ICH-consistent Alpine food products (see again chap. 5 and Tables 4a, 4b and 4c), we frequently observed that producers often sell their products directly at their premises (production sites, owned stores). For example, in France, Tome des Bauges producers (whether farmers or dairy cooperatives) sell directly to customers (local consumers, tourists, local restaurants); some are also experimenting with mail order and e-commerce solutions (see Table 6). In Switzerland, rye bread of Canton Valais bakers all sell their products directly (some are larger companies with multiple points of sales). When production quantity is small with respect to the needs of the local market, direct distribution might be enough to sell these producers’ entire inventory. In other cases, producers get together to create commercialization cooperatives that can also take care of part of the production process and related services (e.g., packaging, etc.). Cooperation is widespread in agriculture and farming, particularly in the case of milk and dairy products, cereals, fruits, vegetables, and wine. We found evidence of cooperative systems to commercialize produce and food products, among others (see again Table 4a, 4b and 4c), in the cases of East Tyrolean Lamb, the Krainer Steinschaf Sheep, and the Sulmtaler chicken. In Switzerland, the cooperative Gran Alpin was primarily established to help cereal farmers from the Canton of the Grisons with the commercialization of their products. In the Aosta Valley (IT), Fontina producers have created a second-level commercialisation cooperative that regroups individual producers and cooperative dairies, and takes care of storage, ripening, and packaging of Fontina as well as establishing and maintaining relationships to indirect distributors (large retailers, specialty shops, and importers). While diffused, legal forms alterative to the cooperative are possible, including for-profit corporations. A notable case is that of the heritage Bitto rebels, who gave themselves the legal form of a for-profit corporation and, more recently, of a benefit corporation. Respect to producers’ cooperatives, this form allows individuals and groups outside of the cheese supply chain (for example, supporting citizens) to subscribe the corporation’s shares.

9 ISARA (2012). Study on labelling of Agricultural and food products of mountain farming. Lyon,

Isara, Euromontana, University of the Highlands and Islands Perth College: 165.

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Table 6 – Retailing and wholesaling of ICH-consistent products: Illustrative cases

Distributor Area Relevant aspects Alpina Vera Cantons of Uri,

Glarus, Ticino and Grisons, CH

Intercantonal marketing and sales promotional association, whose membership includes official bodies and associations involved in the promotion of regional/cantonal brands (see also Table 3). Alpina Vera has the goal of promoting and coordinating the collaboration between agriculture and other sectors of the economic system; maintain and increase the economic value produced in Alpine and mountain regions; maintain and increase sales of Alpine and mountain products; increase market awareness of Alpine and mountain products. To be promoted by Alpina Vera, products must be handcrafted and produced with at least 80% of ingredients from the cantons of Uri, Glarus, Ticino and the Grisons and the majority of the added value must be locally produced. At the beginning of 2018, products in Alpina Vera’s catalogue were from 153 producers (85 from the Grisons, 50 from Ticino, 8 from Glarus, 10 from Uri). Alpina Vera sells directly through e-commerce (www.alpinavera.ch) and a store located in Chur (Grisons), and through a network of 6 commercial intermediaries. Key activities include marketing and communication (participation to trade fairs and events; development and distribution of printed promotional material; management of the web site; media relations) and sales promotion (management of the e-commerce platforms, direct sales, organisation of food tastings and collaborations with retailers).

Gran Alpin Canton of the Grisons, CH

Since the liberalisation of the Swiss cereal market, cereal farming in the Grisons has steadily reduced and moved to valley floors. In 1987, the Gran Alpin commercialization cooperative was established in Tiefecastel to support arable farming in the mountain areas of the Grisons. In 1996, all farmers turned to organic production. Nowadays, approximately 90 farms produce 500 tons of wheat, rye, barley, spelt, naked oat, buckwheat, and malting barley (from 2003, for beer production). Since 2002, most of the production is locally ground as well in a small mill that, if not for Gran Alpin, would have closed. Product range includes cereals, flours, cereal flakes, pasta, and beer. Clients include the retailer Coop (which sells Gran Alpin products under the ‘Pro Montagna’ label), small specialty and organic stores in the Grisons (products are sold under the Gran Alpin label), bakers (who use Gran Alpin flour to make typical breads, such as the ‘Capricorn bread’ or the Val Müstair Schaibiettas cookies), restaurants, local breweries and individual consumers. Gran Alpin products are also sold directly by mail or at the Tiefencastel store.

http://www.alpinavera.ch/

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Partnership between Coop Suisse and Slow Food Switzerland

CH Coop is one of Switzerland’s largest retail and wholesale company, structured in the form of a cooperative society with approximately 2.5 million members, 85,000 employees, 2,476 points of sale, and CHF 28.3 billion of revenues in 2016. Coop’s business principles stress giving preference to environment-friendly and socially responsible products, supporting Swiss agriculture, and favouring products made in Switzerland. Slow Food (SF) has been active in Switzerland since 1993. The first interactions between the two organisations date back to 1999, when Coop sponsored the first edition of the SF fair “Beef” near Zurich. In 2004, the President of SF Switzerland was invited to give a speech at the Annual Coop Members Meeting in Berne, after which, at the end of 2016, the two organisations established a long-term agreement to promote Swiss food culture and sustainable consumption. Through its Sustainability Fund, Coop financially supports SF and the establishment of SF presidia (21 of the 22 Swiss Presidia were established thanks to Coop’s financial and marketing support). In addition, Coop includes in its assortment a selection of 50 SF Presidia products (15 from Switzerland, the rest from other countries), including Traditional Valais rye bread, Farina Bona, raw milk vacherin, Chur salami, and mountain pasture Sbrinz. Given the limited quantities, seasonal unavailability, and lower profit margins of these products, Coop had to adapt its procurement procedures, and according to the retailer little or no returns are made from the sales of Presidia products. The cooperation has not only benefitted Presidia producers, but also boosted the visibility of SF in Switzerland.

Distribution of the Tome des Bauges PDO

Massif des Bauges, Savoie and Haute-Savoie, FR

The Tome des Bauges is produced by 5 dairy cooperatives and 13 individual farmers (see Table 4c). All farmers sell their products on site. Cooperative dairies all have their cheese shops, in some cases with small exhibition areas that provide information about Tome des Bauges production; some also sell through mail order or online. SITOB, the Syndicat Interprofessionnel de la tome des Bauges, created a network of Ambassadors, who engage themselves to provide accurate information about and valorise the Tome. In 2018, Ambassadors include 7 farmers, 5 dairies, 23 restaurants, 16 cheese shops, 2 caterers, 12 other points of sales, and 4 institutional partners. All Ambassadors are located in the Massif des Bauges and immediate surroundings.

Cooperative Milk and Fontina Producers

Aosta Valley, IT Created in 1957 with the goal of collecting, ageing and marketing the PDO Fontina cheese by 46 founding members, the Cooperative now federates 200 associates (including private companies, cooperative cheese factories, dairies and pastures), which confer approximately 300,000 Fontina wheels per year. Annual turnover is about €20 million. The Cooperative commercialises and distributes more than 70% of the total production of Fontina (the rest is commercialized by independent producers). Its administrative headquarters (Maison Fontina), which also serve as a ripening and storage warehouse with packaging facilities, are located in Saint-Cristophe and spread over an area of 10,000 sq.m. The Cooperative also owns 6 ripening cellars carved

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into the rock (total storage capacity: approximately 150,000 wheels), obtained from WWII military depots and on old copper mine, which guarantee the conditions of high humidity (>90%) and constant temperature (10°) necessary for the maturing of Fontina. Cooperative sells directly to consumers through three retail outlets (styled after a wooden chalet), the Valpelline visitor centre (see Table 5), and a cheese story by the Fontanemore dairy. The vast majority of Fontina is however sold to large retailers and specialty stores. Key destination markets include Northern Italy (80% of total revenue), the rest of Italy (10%), and foreign markets (the remaining 10%, mostly USA, Germany, Switzerland, France, Belgium and UK).

Distribution of Historical Rebel Bitto cheese

Bitto Valleys, Lombardy, IT

To facilitate the commercialization of heritage Bitto (see again Table 4c), the Società Valli del Bitto Trading spa (Bitto Valleys Trading Stock Company) was constituted in 2003. The Società buys Bitto wheels from producers at fair prices, and takes care of their storage and ripening. The legal form of a stock company (instead of a cooperative) was chosen to facilitate the acquisition of shareholders. In December 2016, the legal form was changed into that of a benefit corporation. Introduced in the Italian legal system at the beginning of 2016, benefit corporations are for profit companies whose primary goal is to generate a positive social and environmental impact. The term ‘trading’ in the previous company name had long troubled producers and other stakeholders, as it recalled financial speculations. The new name, Società Valli del Bitto spa benefit is considered more in line with the company’s institutional goal to preserve the Bitto Valley’s cheese heritage. In its storage facility in Val Gerola, the Società stores approximately 3,000 wheels. Every year, approximately 1,000 wheels are bought in September at a transparent price of €15-16/Kg. With an original subscribed capital of €450,000, the Società counts 5 producer shareholders (out of 10 heritage producers)) and 110 non-producer shareholders (who have subscribed shares of varying amounts, from €75 to €20,000). Significantly, the number of shareholders is increasing despite the company’s operating losses, which indicates that capital subscription is mostly motivated by ethical, rather than economic, considerations. Historical Rebel is distributed directly at the Val Gerola Bitto Centre (see Table 5) and to a network of shops and restaurants, mostly in Lombardy and a few other large Italian cities.

Degust Varna, Tyrol, IT Founded in 1994 by the Michelin starred chef Hansi Baumgartner, Degust is a cheese affineur and shop that selects small niche dairy products of high quality to refine them. Thanks to his previous experience, Mr Baumgartner pairs cheese with special ingredients (e.g., herbs, flowers, spices) and develops refinement techniques that balance traditional cheese preservation methods with innovative approaches that enhance their taste and aroma (for example, by wrapping cheese in leaves or in hay or covering it with pomace, beeswax and spice blends). Selected raw milk cheeses come South Tyrol and elsewhere, and are matured in a former WWII bunker. Degust also offer its client guided tasting experiences (in the €17-37 price range, wine

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excluded, depending on the duration and the number and quality/origin of cheeses tasted).

Eataly Various locations (IT and elsewhere)

Eataly (a play on words between Eat and Italy) is an international retailer created by the entrepreneur Oscar Farinetti that applies the Slow Food philosophy to the distribution of food products. After a period of development, the first shops opened in 2007 in Turin: the immediate success paves the way for the domestic and international expansion in Bologna (2008), Pinerolo (2009), Monticello d’Alba and New York (2010), Genova and Torino-Via Lagrange (2011), Rome (2012), Bari, Florence, Istanbul, Dubai and Chicago (2013), Milan (2014), Forlì, Sao Paulo, Munich (2015), New York-Downtown, Boston, Dubai-Festival City, Riyadh-Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Copenhagen (2016), Trieste, Los Angeles, Doha-Festival City, Moscow (2017). In 2017 the FICO Eataly World, the largest food park in the world, opened in Bologna. Since the beginning, Slow Food has served as a strategic consultant for Eataly, by helping selecting suppliers and products, and by cooperating in the educational activities and in the content creation for pedagogical material about food products and production methods. The involvement of Slow Food is not without tensions: according to some, Eataly’s profit orientation is hardly compatible with the Slow Food movement’s values. Eataly stores combine retailing, restaurants and the offer of learning experiences and events. In Italy, the product mix is to a great extent local/domestic; abroad, stores promote the excellences of Italy’s food culture. International expansions required a careful adapting of the offer: for example, in New York fresh fruit and vegetables is local, not Italian; in Japan, Eataly’s emphasis is on food service rather than grocery shopping. To differentiate itself from many large retailers, Eataly attempts to treat suppliers in an ethical manner, guaranteeing fair prices and facilitating access to distribution to smaller producers. Eataly’s product assortment is narrower than most food retailers: some product categories (frozen foods, pre-cooked processed meals) are missing as deemed incompatible with corporate values. Products are seasonal and, in the case of smaller-scale, artisanal suppliers, not always available. Particular attention is devoted to the training of store employees, who need to be able to explain products to consumers.

Giolito Bra, Piedmont, IT

Founded in 1920 by the current owner Fiorenzo's grandmother, the Giolito cheese business began as a wholesale cheese reseller. After World War II, her son Francesco took over the business, and decided to start selling at weekly farmers’ markets throughout the province of Cuneo. Today Fiorenzo, Francesco's son, continues this activity still selling its cheeses at the weekly markets. The shop itself was opened just ten years ago and it is located in the small Piedmontese city of Bra, the place where the Slow Food movement was born. Fiorenzo directly buys cheeses from trusted producers that are coming for the most part from Slow Food Italian Presidia, and it ages the cheeses himself in three cellars located in the back of the shop. Giolito’s cheese selection can be purchased directly onsite or online. The shop also offers cheese-tasting experiences, visits to

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the cellars and the labs, and a small museum displaying traditional cheese production tools. In addition to its own business activity, Giolito is also an external consultant for Eataly, and one of the cofounders of “Cheese”, the Slow Food's biennial fair held in Bra that brings together the world's best cheeses and their producers.

La Baita del formaggio

Milano, Lombardy, IT

The Baita del Formaggio (the cheese lodge) is an historical shop of Milan opened in 1958 and specialised in traditional mountain dairy products. Founded by Marcello Rusconi, today the shop is also a cheese bar, and it is run by Marcello’s son, Roberto, who personally selects the dairy specialties offered in the store, and who has started a product line made exclusively by traditional farmers and dairies. The shop is also known for the registered trademark of the “Bollcremm”, a champagne-bathed gorgonzola invented by Mr. Rusconi. The catalogue of the cheeses offered in the shop counts almost 300 different types of cheeses, from gorgonzola to mountain butter, from cheese made in high mountain pastures and aged in barrique with mountain pasture hay, to the famous “Bettelmatt”, a typical cheese produced in the Upper Ossola valley. The cheese bar is open all day and it offers breakfast, lunch, happy hours, and dinner menus based on traditional mountains products. The shop is part of the historical shop of Lombardy, and has been promoted by several newspapers, including the "Financial Times".

La Casera Verbania, Piedmont, IT

La Casera was founded in 1991 in Verbania Intra by Eros Buratti, a young man passionate about the typical product of its region who grew up in the family cheeses’ shop. Since 1991, Eros transformed the small l parents’ shop into an experiential space consisting of a shop, a tasting area, and an ageing cellar. Eros mainly selects his producers in the Piedmont area and favours local products coming from the Ossola Valley. The shop’s catalogue includes almost 150 cheeses, of which 50 directly aged by Eros. Since 2012, a Bistro was added to the shop. This space offers menus based on typical products of Piedmont including cheeses, wines, and bread.

Peck Milano, Lombardy, IT

In 1883, a charcuterie maker from Prague, Franz Peck, opened in Milan a workshop of German-style cured meats and smoked meats that, thanks to its selection of high-quality products, became one of the town’s most successful deli shops. With success, the workshop was extended and modernized, and Peck became an official supplier for the Italian royal household. After WWI, Peck sold his business to the entrepreneur Eliseo Magnaghi, who extended the shop’s assortment to a new range of products. During the 1950s, the store was sold to the Grazioli brothers, Giovanni and Luigi, who further widened the product offer and positioned Peck as a popular gourmet lunch break venue. In 1970 the Stoppani brothers, who had succeeded the Grazioli, extended the offer to deli specialties, cured meats, cheese, meat, bakery, patisserie and wine. Over the years, Peck quadrupled its selling areas in Milan and expanded internationally in Asia. In 2013, the brand was acquired by Pietro Marzotto, who gave impulse to Peck’s internationalization process.

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Pur Südtirol Trentino-Alto

Adige, IT Pur Südtirol is a retailer specialised in the sales of (mostly) food and wine from South Tyrol (Trentino Alto Adige) that adopts a mixed distribution model (online/offline). The physical distribution network consists of 4 shops in Merano (from 2010), Brunico (from 2012), Bolzano (from 2014), and Lana (from 2016); it also works as a bilingual (IT/DE) online e-commerce site, www.pursuedtirol.com. At the beginning of 2018, the assortment consisted of about 2,000 high quality products from 170 farmers and producers, each of which is given visibility in the company’s website.

Tascapan.com Aosta Valley, IT E-commerce initiative initiated in 2014 aiming to promote, commercialize, and distribute high quality traditional food products from the Aosta Valley. The idea behind the platform is to help smaller producers deal with the distribution logistics and associated paperwork. Unlike competing e-commerce sites, www.tascapan.com features a reduced number of selected producers (only 22, but growing): smaller family firms of traditionally produced products that represents the Aosta Valley’s cultural heritage. Since May 2015, Tascapan is physically hosted inside Maison Bruil (Introd), an ethnographic museum hosted in a traditional farmer house that features a permanent exhibition on the Aosta Valley cultural food heritage. Tascapan’s shop, at the end of the exhibition, provides a way to visitors to ‘bring back home’ part of such heritage. Tascapan also organises in Maison Bruil food and wine tasting experiences and encounters with producers and is present with its network of suppliers at cultural events and trade shows. Tascapan aims at establishing a partnership approach to its suppliers by granting higher profit margins respect to similar e-commerce platforms. In its website, it adopts a storytelling approach based on narrating the producers behind the products in a resonant and visually appealing manner.

100% Valtellina Rye Project

Valtellina, Lombardy, IT

Rye bread, which is traditional in the Sondrio province, is now mostly produced with imported rye flour. At its first edition in 2016-17, the project was conceived and promoted by the Union of Commerce, Tourism and Services of the Sondrio Province, in collaboration with the provincial Bakers and Confectioners Association and the Sondrio Farmers’ Association, in an attempt to foster the reintroduction of rye cultivation in the area. Still experimental, the initiative involved a local farmer, who sowed rye, and 10 bakers in the Sondrio province territory, who baked and sold bread made with flour obtained from the farmer’s crop. Given the limited availability of Valtellina rye flour, 100% Valtellina rye bread was made available for a limited period during the weekends from December 8th, 2016 to March 5th, 2017. This “limited edition” logic was considered a useful way to deal with the limited quantities and higher cost of local rye flour.

Source: Elaborations on the AlpFoodway database, (2018).

http://www.pursuedtirol.com/

http://www.tascapan.com/

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We found limited evidence of public intervention to facilitate the distribution of local ICH-consistent products. An exception is the association Alpina Vera, which is financially supported by the Cantons of Uri, Glarus, Ticino and the Grisons and has the goal of generate sales of local handcrafted products and increase the added value produced in mountainous areas. The association sells directly through an e-commerce site and a store in Chur, and through a network of commercial intermediaries. 7.2 Indirect distribution: The need for a selective approach Most ICH-consistent producers do not find it very difficult to distribute their products locally or to sell them to local firms as ingredients or intermediate products. Local consumers and tourists alike often appreciate typical products, and knowledge of heritage producers is sometimes widespread in local communities. At the same time, however, local distributors’ established procurement patterns and strategies might privilege non-local suppliers with products of similar quality at a reduced cost. For smaller local distributors, another barrier to the inclusion of these products in their assortment consists in higher transaction costs as local producers might not be organised for timely delivery. In some of the areas we monitored, territorial brands have been established to give visibility to local producers and facilitate their access to local and regional distribution (see again par. 4.3 and Table 3). Non-local distribution channels are more difficult to deal with for ICH-consistent producers. Textbook marketing advice for the distribution of goods produced in smaller quantities and at a premium price is to aim for a selective distribution logic, for both practical and symbolic reasons. This term refers to a model in which only a few retail outlets are selected to cover a specific geographical area. This typology of product distribution lies between intensive distribution (a distribution strategy where products are made available in all possible outlets in a given area) and exclusive distribution (where only one retail outlet is selected for a given area). Selective distribution is considered an appropriate approach for high quality or luxury goods. Our sample covers some independent specialty stores focused on cheese and other products (see again Table 6). They share a high-end market positioning and a reputation for including in their assortment only high-quality products with a strong link to their territory of origin. These stores are ideal target outlets for ICH-consistent products, as they are consistent with their positioning. Most of these products are small, family business run by connoisseurs, who are in a better position to appreciate heritage products’ history and production methods and explain them to their customers. In some cases, these retailers have extended their activity to the catering business, adopting experiential and taste education formulas. The drawback of these specialty stores for heritage producers is that their small size means that they can generate limited revenues. In our sample, only one of these specialty stores, Milan’s Peck (IT), was able to increase its size and open multiple points of sale Put differently, independent specialty stores can hardly change a small heritage producer’s fortunes.

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Other cases in our sample have adopted a selective distribution strategy. The 100% Valtellina Rye Project, which supports the reintroduction of rye cultivation in Valtellina (IT), selected 10 local bakers who baked and sold bread made with local flour (available in very limited quantities) for a limited period during the weekends over a 3-month period. This limited edition and selective approach was an effective way to generate interest and deal with the reduced quantities and higher costs of reintroduced produce. Tascapan, a recently created Aosta Valley online retailer (IT), helps small local producers to deal with the distribution logistics and associated paperwork. Unlike competing e-retailers, Tascapan is very selective in its assortment, showcasing the products of a limited number of small heritage producers, mostly family businesses, who are presented with a storytelling approach. Another distinguishing feature is that unlike similar e-commerce platforms adopting an intensive distribution model, Tascapan nurtures the relationships with its supplier partners by granting fair profit margins. ICH-consistent product’s need for different procurement strategies respect to those prevalent in the large and organised distribution is a common theme that we address below. 7.3 The difficult relationship with large-scale retailers The food retailing industry in Alpine countries is dominated by a few powerful companies who impose their terms on suppliers. Unlike independent specialty stores, large-scale retail chains primarily use central purchasing offices that put potential suppliers in competition with each other and reduce their profit margins as much as possible. These distribution channels ask their suppliers high production volumes, low price levels, quick deliveries, specific packaging solutions, and the respect of complex food safety/traceability norms and administrative procedures. Small artisanal heritage producers find it difficult, if not impossible, to play by these rules. Larger producer cooperatives are sometimes able to provide enough products on a regular basis for mass distribution. By pooling together resources, these producers’ associations are able to satisfy the requirements of larger-scale retailers. For example, in Austria, the Raiffeisengenossenschaft Osttirol cooperative secured distribution of the East Tyrolean Lamb through Spar supermarkets and in France, Beaufort and Reblochon cheese is distributed in various national chains. Territorial brands (see again par. 4.3) that provide visibility and support to the local origin of products also facilitate access to large-scale retailers. A contract with a large retailer with hundreds or thousands of points of sales can make a heritage producer’s fortune. Direct access to these retailers is however atypical for small, artisanal heritage producers, who are penalized by the rules of modern distribution. In our sample, we found some cases of larger-scale distributors characterized by a market positioning and corporate social responsibility approach that valorises ICH-consistent products. With four points of sale and a bilingual e-commerce site, Pur Südtirol is a retailer that sources high quality products from 170

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farmers and producers with a strong link to the regional territory of South Tyrol (IT). Procurement strategies are adapted to work with smaller-sized suppliers and the occasional stock shortages linked to the small production batches and seasonality of some products is explained to consumers and valorised as proof of the retailer’s management philosophy. Store staff is also well trained to provide the clientele with information about producers and product quality, origin, and production methods. Two other larger-scale retailers in our sample, Eataly (IT) and Swiss Coop (CH), adopted procurement strategies in cooperation with the Slow Food movement (see again par. 4.4 and Table 2). Eataly has applied the Slow Food philosophy (according to which food should be good, clean, and fair) to modern retailing. The company’s business model has enjoyed considerable success and has expanded internationally. Slow Food has directly cooperated with Eataly by providing the expertise required for the selection of suppliers and educational activities. While the application of Slow Food values to a commercial enterprise has not been exempt from critiques and growth and internationalization have required some compromises, Eataly is a valuable distribution channel for (mostly Italian) heritage producers and attracts a selected clientele willing to spend more for high-quality and ethically produced food. Unlike Eataly who is a niche food retailer, Coop is one of the top grocery distributors in Switzerland. Organised in the legal form of a cooperative company with almost 2,500 points of sale, Coop gives preference to environmentally friendly and socially responsible products, and aims to support Swiss agriculture and Swiss-made products. Coop’s relationship with Slow Food falls however more within the domain of corporate social responsibility than its procurement strategy. Through its Sustainability Fund, Coop financially supports Slow Food Switzerland and the establishment of Slow Food Presidia. Coop has also adapted its procurement strategies to include 50 Slow Food presidia in its assortment; according to the retailer, little or no returns are made from the sales of these products. 8. Restaurants and other Ho.Re.Ca. outlets The term Ho.Re.Ca. refers to restaurants as well as other categories of food service firms, such as bars, hotels, and catering companies. This chapter mostly covers restaurants, but similar considerations can be extended to the other Ho.Re.Ca. distribution channels. Local restaurants (as well as hotels and bars) are important outlets for the distribution of local agricultural produce and food products. Food and wine tourism is also on the rise, and the presence of typical restaurants contributes to an area’s tourist attractiveness. Due to the decline of mountain agriculture in Alpine countries, restaurants and chefs nowadays often prepare typical recipes with non-local or imported ingredients. This creates a paradox: these restaurants are appreciated by tourists in search of authenticity, but they often source ingredients of non-local origin or propose simplified

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versions of local recipes, turning into ‘tourist traps’. Customers with limited knowledge of local food culture might not note the difference. ICH-consistent producers are penalised in this context. Even restaurateurs willing to source local ingredients from heritage farmers and producers might be discouraged by their relatively higher cost and the lack of structured distribution and delivery solutions (as seen in chap. 6, direct distribution is prevalent, as these smaller-scale producers are ill-equipped to provide timely delivery). Some products, such as cheeses and cured meats might be more easily sourced respect to others (for example fresh meat). Another problem might be the chef’s lack of competence in the preparation of traditional dishes (for example, offal and less noble meat cuts), some of which might not be appreciated by tourists with limited knowledge of their local cultural significance. The market positioning of some restaurants that are locally considered ambassadors of traditional food culture can favour ICH-consistent suppliers (see Table 7). In Canton Valais, Raclett’house Chez Eddy is considered by many locals ‘the’ place to eat Raclette and other typical dishes from the Canton of Valais. This case exemplifies countless typical restaurants that have contributed to the safeguarding of local food culture. In most Alpine communities, who the most authentic restaurateurs are is common knowledge for local residents. The diffusion of social media such as Trip Advisor and travel blogs is contributing to make it easier for non-locals to identify them. Haute cuisine chefs often take inspiration from the local food culture – but in creative ways. Their re-interpretations of traditional dishes with nobler ingredients and more refined preparation methods may be appreciated by their clientele but constitute a different (innovative and more expensive) market offering respect to recipes grounded in tradition. In addition, these chefs tend to favour luxury ingredients (such as foie gras, lobsters, and oysters) and dishes of non-local origin that are considered ‘a must’ for haute cuisine restaurants, even when located in high-mountain destinations. A notable counter-example is the acclaimed chef Norbert Niederkofler who, from his restaurant in the Dolomites, has developed a menu of dishes entirely made from locally sourced and traditional ingredients. The realization of a so-conceived haute cuisine menu posed some difficulties, particularly for what concerns the winter seasons when local ingredient availability and variety is reduced. It thus required the development of a network of suppliers able to provide products of suitable quality. Mr. Niederkofler is also the founder of the “Cook the Mountain” project, which is an alliance of chefs and other actors who share the goal to promote high altitude ingredients not usually employed in cooking. Non-local restaurants can provide, too, a market for ICH-consistent products. Of particular interest are those restaurants that propose ICH-consistent recipes outside of the heritage communities, particularly in large cities. A case in point is Sciatt à Porter in Milan.

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Table 7 – ICH-consistent restaurants and bars: Illustrative cases

Name Area Relevant aspects Raclett’house Chez Eddy

Bruson, Canton of Valais, CH

The Raclett’house is a small restaurant in Bruson serving the original PDO Raclette of Valais in the traditional manner (the raclette cheese is heated and then scraped onto the plate). The owner, Mr. Eddy Baillifard, is well known in the Canton as a delegate at national and international fairs and festival of the Interprofession Raclette du Valais AOP, the organisation that manages the cheese’s PDO. The restaurant is opened all day long and every day of the year. Besides the raclette, the menu offers typical products and dishes of the region such as fondue (served in 8 varieties) and cured meats. Products included in the menu can also be bought on site, or online through the restaurant web site.

Saveurs du Valais (Flavours of Valais)


“Saveurs du Valais” is an association promoted by the Chamber of Agriculture of Valais, Gastrovalais (the trade union of restaurants’ owners), and the Associations of Hotels’ owners of Valais, founded in 2017 with the aim to promote typical Valaisian products and valorise the expertise of farmers, producers, winemakers, and restaurant owners. The association involves 48 restaurants in the Canton, which engage themselves to serve at least 3 hot dishes and 2 desserts based on Valais PDO and PGI products, 8 wine specialties, and the “Valaisan selection”, which is a mix of typical cheeses and cured meats of Valais. The restaurants participating in the initiative can be recognised through a label exposed on the front door and provided by the association, which regularly controls the respect of requirements.

100% Val Poschiavo Charter

Valposchiavo, Canton of Grisons, CH

Managed by Valposchiavo Tourism, the local tourist destination organisation, the Charter is an initiative aimed to involve local restaurateurs in the 100% Valposchiavo project (see Table 3), which certifies both products that are produced from entirely local ingredients (100% Valposchiavo certification) or products that are locally made also using non-local ingredients, provided that at least 75% of the added value is generated in Valposchiavo (“Fait Sü”, or “Made In” in the local dialect). Adherent restaurants engage to propose at least three 100% Valposchiavo dishes (entirely made with 100% Valposchiavo products), as well as local water and wines. To date, 13 restaurants have signed the Charter. The adoption of the Charter has modified local sourcing practices of restaurateurs, who have sometimes partnered with local suppliers to develop new products. For example, two restaurants (Albrici and Raselli) have partnered with the Poschiavo Dairy and a local farmer to obtain locally produced mozzarella and tomatoes to be used as 100% Valposchiavo pizza ingredients.

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Kulinarisches Erbe Bayern auf dem Teller (Bavaria’s Culinary Heritage on the Plate)

Bavaria, D

The association, founded in Munich in 2010, supports traditional farming and food production in order to safeguard Bavarian food culture. Its members work to develop competencies in this area and support the “Agentur für Lebensmittel – Produkte aus Bayern” (Agency for Food – Products from Bavaria) with the maintenance of an online specialty food databank (www.spezialitatenland-bayern.de). Founding members include the Bavarian State Ministry of Nutrition, Agriculture and Forestry; the State Guild of the Bavarian Bakery Trade; the State Guild of the Bavarian Butchery Trade; The Schweisfurth foundation (NGO for fair and sustainable agriculture and food production); the Technical University of Munich (Faculty of Economic Sciences). The project was initiated in 2015. During promotional weeks, the association cooperates with selected restaurants (three restaurants in 2015, ten in 2016) from different districts in Bavaria to serve customers authentic traditional dishes. Each restaurant offers different recipes, which relate to the region and often the family tradition of the chef/owner. The project and the individual restaurants are promoted over the websites of the association and the member organisations, and through other channels. One of the promotion activities is the production of short high-quality video clips introducing each of the restaurants, the respective chef/owner and the story behind the traditional dishes.

LandZunge Allgäu and Oberschwaben, Bavaria, D

LandZunge is an initiative in the Allgäu region that aims to promote the offering of traditional dishes with regional ingredients in local restaurants. Landzunge provides restaurants with a supply network of regional producers and certifies with a label those that comply with their standards. The initiative began in 2001 with the “Projekt Dorfgasthöfe” (Village Inns project) and developed in 2002, with a test in the Ravensburg district. The same year, the “LandZunge Magazin”, a biannual magazine about the region and its cuisine, was created as a promotional tool. In 2003, a Landzunge Beer, launched in cooperation with the local Härle Brewery, was the first initiative-branded product. In the following years, the project expanded to the Bavarian part of the Allgäu region and the district Biberach. In 2007, Landzunge was presented at the Oberschwabenschau national trade fair in Ravensburg. To ensure its future, in 2009 seven regional enterprises established the LandZunge Foundation. In the same year, LandZunge organised the first German-Italian meat festival in Kissleg with butchers from Piedmont (IT), which was replicated in the years that followed. LandZunge has now the legal form of a company under civil law (GbR) with an office and an editorial department for online content and the magazine. The project involves about 80 participating restaurants, a network of certified regional producers, the LandZunge foundation and the Allgäu tourist destination organisation. The Foundation manages an independent control system to ensure product origin and quality and provides restaurant owners with training and mentoring activities. LandZunge was evaluated by the Federal Office for Agriculture and Food as one of the most qualified and professional

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projects to market regional high-quality products through gastronomy. The regional development agency Oberallgäu also evaluates that the project had an effect on regional value creation.

Norbert Niederkofler (3-star Michelin Chef)

San Cassiano, South Tyrol, IT

Norbert Niederkofler is a famous Italian chef known for an approach to haute cuisine that valorises local ingredients and links to the local territory and its traditions. Born in South Tyrol, after having worked in New York restaurants for several years, he came back to his homeland to run the kitchens of the Rosa Alpina Hotel in San Cassiano, in the Dolomites mountains, and the more exclusive St. Hubertus restaurant. At a time when all Michelin star hotels would serve French-influenced luxury dishes (foie gras, oysters, etc.) independently from their location, Mr Niederkofler decided to develop a new approach. After a few years of research and the development of a network of farmers and suppliers able to deliver products of suitable quality, the St. Hubertus restaurant changed its menu to only include dishes obtained from locally sourced products. Considered a risky move at the time for a restaurant that was bestowed a first Michelin star in 2000 and a second in 2007, this approach ended up being the main reason behind the awarding of the prestigious third star in 2017. Mr Niederkofler is also the ideator and founder of the “Cook the Mountain” project, which aims to respect seasonality in cuisine and valorise high mountain’s ingredients not usually used in cooking. “Cook the Mountain” members now include known chefs, such as Giancarlo Morelli, from the “Pomiroeu” restaurant in Seregno (Lombardy, Italy); Roland Trettl (South Tyrol, Italy); Alfio Ghezzi from Locanda Margon (Trento, Italy); Virgilio Martinez, chef at the “Central” restaurant in Lima (Perù); Ana Ros, a Slovenian chef; Rodolfo Guzman from Santiago de Chile; Josean Alija, chef of the “Nerua” restaurant at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao (Spain). Another member is Ms Eleonora Cunaccia, founder of Primitivizia, a company from Trentino that sells wild mountain herbs.

Sciatt à Porter Restaurant

Milan, Lombardy, IT

Sciatt à Porter is a restaurant in Milan offering typical dishes from Valtellina. Opened in October 2013 as a street food corner, it was soon turned into a restaurant with seats and tables. The owner, Ms Emma Marveggio, comes from Valtellina; she defines the restaurant as a “metropolitan Valtellina shelter”. The menu includes most of the typical dishes of Valtellina: the sciatt, a round-shaped pancake made with buckwheat flour, with a melted cheese heart; the chisciol, a crunchy low and large pancake made with buckwheat flour, usually cooked with a little butter or oil to become crisp and take a golden colour; the pizzoccheri, a flat ribbon pasta, made with buckwheat flour, and cooked with greens, cubed potatoes, and pieces of Valtellina Casera cheese; the polenta taragna, a dish made exclusively with buckwheat flour and served with cheese or butter. Special attention is provided to the selection of ingredients, cheeses and cured meats, which mostly come from heritage producers (for example, the Rebel’s Bitto and Bresaola l’Originaria, see Tables 4b and 4c).

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The Wooding Bar Milan and Valtellina, Lombardy, IT

Foraging, (the gathering of wild edibles respecting the eco-system) is a new trend in food and catering. The Wooding Bar offers drinks and small dishes made with wild ingredients (roots, herbs, algae, moss, and bark) collected in uncontaminated areas and worked by hand. Situated in Milan, it focuses on ingredients from Valmalenco, a lateral Valley of Valtellina. The drink list includes classical cocktails revisited with wild ingredients as well as innovative ‘wild cocktails’. The founder, Valeria Mosca Caglio, is an expert in foraging. She founded the Wooding bar in 2017 after having founded in 2010 the Wooding Lab, a laboratory of research and experimentation on the use of wild food, where a team of about 13 people forage, study, catalogue, analyze, and experiment with wild plants considered edible and suitable for human nutrition use. While the lab focuses on research and experimentation, the bar represents a way to popularize and promote the foraging culture and the organisation’s approach to it. While not directly managing a restaurant, the Wooding Lab offers catering for events and various other services, including training activities directed to both adults and children; consulting for chefs, bartenders and food professionals; sales of wild ingredients; and product development services (e.g., recipes, formulas, etc.) for the food and cosmetic sectors.


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The restaurant name refers to a typical dish from Valtellina, and the owner, Ms Emma Marveggio, personally selects the best heritage ingredients, such as the Historical Rebel Bitto and Bresaola l’Originaria (see Tables 4b and 4c). To the extent to which they keep ingredients and preparation methods ICH-consistent, restaurants like this may not only provide an important distribution outlet for heritage products, but also become showcases for an area’s food culture. Another collective instrument to commercially valorise ICH-consistent Alpine food products is through the creation of partnerships between the agriculture, food production, restaurants, and other sectors of the local economic system (see again Table 7). Initiatives such as Bavaria’s Culinary Heritage on the Plate, Allgäu’s LandZunge, Saveurs du Valais and the 100% Valposchiavo Charter, in different ways based on local conditions, help restaurateurs and chefs to obtain training on traditional recipes, find a reliable network of local suppliers able to promptly provide required ingredients, and at the same provide visibility to adhering restaurants and act as a quality signal that legitimises higher menu prices. 9. Festivals and cultural events Festive events are an important part of Alpine culture. Thanks to the concerted efforts of cultural, tourist development and other institutions, local communities have sometimes been able to revitalise traditional cultural events at risk of decline, which are now appreciated also for their local economic development impacts. New cultural events and festivals, not necessarily rooted in tradition, are constantly being launched to animate areas during peak tourist months or to de-seasonalise tourist demand. Local food and wines, while not necessary the key theme of these initiatives, are always an important part of the visitor experience. Commercial elements, while playing an important role for the sustainability of initiatives that are not publicly funded, should however not prevail. In terms of the AlpFoodway framework for the evaluation of ICH commercialisation (see again chap. 3 and Figure 2) a balance should be achieved between commercial and cultural considerations so that the community’s ICH is safeguarded but also external promoted, resulting in economic impacts that benefit local actors. The relationship that events (and their organisers) establish with local communities can be further assessed in terms of the framework reported in Table 8, that contrasts two opposed ideal types (most events and festivals are in-between these two extremes). However, even events mainly targeting tourists may over time end up acquiring authenticity to the extent that residents embrace them. Some considerations reported for permanent ICH-consistent experiences also apply to temporary events (see again chap. 6). In particular, events are a way through which communities can stage their traditions and provide opportunities to tell stories, educate tastes, and showcase the area’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Successful ICH-promoting events require the collaboration of

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various actors (individuals and organisations; public and private; profit and not-for-profit; focused on agriculture, culture, tourism, or commerce; etc.), extensive volunteer work, and the careful balancing of needs and priorities. UNWTO’s recommendations to develop ICH-based tourism products10 (see again par. 6.3) are useful in establishing appropriate event governance mechanisms.

Table 8 – Two typologies of cultural events and festivals

Events for locals Events for tourists Values Residents come first. Tourist needs

are secondary. Tourists are more important than residents for the organisers.

Main Theme Usually local and traditional. It may refer to cultural, religious, historical, natural features of the host area.

It may be local or not, but it is intended mostly for tourists. As a consequence, it may be “simplified” to be more comprehensible/acceptable to tourists.

Main Target Group

Local attendance. Tourists. Local participants are accidental.

Organisation and Leadership

Key roles are reserved to residents, which are the only ones that possess the cultural sensitiveness to manage the event. Non-residents are only employed for specialized technical tasks.

Key roles are reserved to non-residents, as they are perceived to possess better competences. Residents may have secondary roles.

Financial Support

Local funding (both public and private) is of the utmost importance. Limited request for external funding

Non-local funding of the event is fundamental. Many non-local sponsors. Local support is minimal.

Source: Adapted from Heenan, D. A. (1978), “Tourism and the community: A drama in three acts”, Journal of Travel Research, 16 (4): 30-32, and Rinallo, D. (2017), Event Marketing, Bocconi University Press, Milan.

The illustrative cases of festivals and events reported in Table 9, while not doing justice to the myriad of cultural initiatives taking place every year in the Alpine space, permit to make a few considerations. Most of these events are community-organised and volunteer-relying initiatives that attract the interest of both local residents and tourists. Funding is mostly local or regional, and only the larger events look capable of attracting non-local sponsors and public support. These initiatives are in different stages of their life cycles. Some in a maturity stage (decades or even centuries old).

10 UNWTO (2012), Study on Tourism and Intangible Cultural Heritage. UNWTO, Madrid. Summary available online, http://ethics.unwto.org/publication/study-tourism-and-intangible-cultural-heritage.



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Table 9 – ICH-consistent cultural events and festivals: Illustrative cases

Event Area Organiser Relevant aspects Alp Festivals Various

locations across the Alpine space

Various organisers Typically taking place in July and August, these traditional festive community events often find their origins in religious holidays. After a religious service, communal meals, fairs, dances and other activities would take place. Similar to cattle processions, these community events have recently been revitalised as celebrations of an area’s pastoral heritage and as tourist attractions. Building on this tradition, various actors (breeder and farmer associations, tourist destination management organisations, cultural associations, national and regional parks, municipalities) are now proposing ‘open alps’ events to provide local citizens and tourists the opportunities to experience the mountain’s productive landscape in a different manner.

Cattle processions to and from the Alpine pastures

Various locations across the Alpine Space

Various organisers Alpine transhumance, the seasonal droving of cattle between the valleys in winter and the high mountain pastures (alps) in summer, is a traditional practice that has shaped the Alpine landscape. Still practiced in Germany (Bavaria), Austria, Slovenia, Italy, Switzerland and France, the ascent to and the descent from Alpine pastures is a traditionally festive event. Referred to with different names in local languages and dialects (e.g., Poya and Rindyà, Kravji Bal, Almabtrieb, Inarpa and Désarpa, etc.), in various areas this tradition has been revitalized for its cultural significance and valorised as a tourist attraction. Dates vary across the Alpine space based on local customs and climate and geographical considerations, with ascent taking place in May/June and descent in September/October. Cows are typically decorated with flowers, ribbons, and large bells. While both the ascent to and the descent from the alps are traditionally relevant, it is the latter that has been revitalized the most for the cultural, social, and tourist animation opportunities it provides to Alpine towns and villages. Notably, in Switzerland, cattle processions to pastures in Appenzell, Toggenburg and Fribourg (termed poyas in the dialect of Fribourg) are inscribed in Switzerland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list as living traditions. The famous ‘ranz des vaches’, a very popular Swiss folk song, is linked to this tradition as it recalls cowherds’ songs probably used to call the herds out to pasture or back to the cowshed for milking.

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Cow Fights Canton Valais, CH/ Aosta Valley, IT/ Haute-Savoie FR

Various organisers Once in a herd, cows naturally fight to determine their position in the social hierarchy. In the bordering areas of Canton Valais, Aosta Valley and Haute-Savoie, home of highly combative cattle breeds, cow fights occur spontaneously during the transhumance to high mountain pastures. Cows compete against each other by pushing themselves with the head and the horns; they rarely hurt themselves. A cow is defeated when it turns away from its opponent or refuses the fight as a sign of submission. Eventually, one cow becomes the “queen” of the herd. Building on this naturally occurring behaviour, in Canton Valais “queen fights” have been organised since 1922 by the Fédération Suisse d’Elvage de la Race d’Hérens. Cows fight against each other according to their category (based on weight, age, and number of calves) throughout the year. The grand finale takes place in Aproz, where the winning cows from seven districts confront each other for the coveted title of “La Reine des Reines” (the Queen of Queens). Every year, about 160 cows participate in the event, and more than 12,000 visitors attend the final matches. The cantonal final is now broadcast live on the first French-speaking Swiss TV channel. Cow fights are inscribed in Switzerland’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list as a living tradition. In the Aosta Valley, cow fights have been organised since 1924, when the Sarteur brothers, during a community festival in Chatillon, organised a first initiative. In the period 1947-57, local breeders constituted an informal committee to organise the Batailles des Reines (queen battles). Since 1958, battles have been organised by the Association Régionale des Amis des Batailles des Reines (Regional Association of the Friends of the Queen Battles). The final, when 200 cows (valdostana breed) battle against each other for the title of queen of the queens, takes place in October in Aosta, and is followed by approximately 10,000 participants. Queen battles have taken place in Haute-Savoie and in nearby areas at least since 1978. The hérens breed is less diffused in France, and these battles are of more episodic nature than in Switzerland and Italy.

Gauder Festival Zell am Ziller, Tyrol, AU

Local Tourist Office

Dating back at least to the XV century, the Gauder Festival is the largest spring festival in Tyrol, recognised since 2014 by Austria in its UNESCO’s ICH national list. Gauder is the name of the area hosting the festival until WWII; the festival is now held in the city center of Zell am Ziller. Attracting about 30,000 visitors, this festive event takes place at the beginning of May. Its many activities celebrate the agricultural past of Tyrol and its many

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traditions. The programme includes a costume parade, a fair of typical products, a livestock market, and a championship of Ranggeln (Tyrolean traditional wrestling). Animal combats (rams and cocks), which were in the past a popular attraction, were discontinued on grounds of animal cruelty. The festival also celebrates Tyrolean beer culture. An important co-organiser and sponsor of the event is Zillertal, a local beer brewery (the oldest family business in Tyrol) whose history is intertwined with that of the Festival. For 500 years, the brewery has produced the Gauder Bock, Austria’s stronger beer (7.8% alcohol content), whose preparation starts in September. After 8 months of maturation, the beer is made available at the beginning of the Festival and all the stock is consumed in a few days, making the Festival unmissable for Gauder Bock fans.

Knödelfest St. Johann in Tirol, Tyrol, AU

Kitzbüheler Alpen St. Johann in Tirol Association

The Knödelfest (dumpling festival) in St. Johann in Tirol, at its 36th edition in 2017, celebrates the area’s dumpling heritage by offering tourists the possibility to taste various dumpling varieties. Its key attraction is the longest dumpling table in the world (300 m. and approximately 26,000 dumplings served). It takes place in Autumn, at the end of September. It is organised by the tourist promotion association Kitzbüheler Alpen St. Johann in Tirol, with the support of local restaurants.

Stanz Brennt! Distillery Festival

Stanz, Tyrol, AU

Tourist Office At the beginning of September, the village of Stanz hosts Stanz Brennt, a distillery festival focused on the local plum schnapps, with live music, food stalls and a farmer market selling fruit-based products. The Stanz plum is an old fruit variety long grown in Western Tyrol, on an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters a.s.l. Already in the 19th century, the area was known for its plum-based spirits. After WWII, with the area’s industrialization, plum cultivation decreased, but the local governments provide incentives to reverse the process and maintain orchids. Since 2005, the area’s plum heritage has been celebrated in the festival, whose name literally means ‘Stanz is burning!’ (burning refers to the distilling of alcohol from plums). Visitors can meet plum growers and distillers and visit the area’s 50 distilleries.

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Wildschönauer Krautinger Week

Wildschönau, Tyrol, AU

Tourism information Wildschönau Hauserweg

Krautinger is a traditional beetschnaps (turnip spirit) that is still produced by 14 Wildschönau farmers (see Table 4a). The Krautinger Week takes place during the Autumn; the 2018 edition will start on September 30th with a church service and procession and will end with a Harvest Festival in the Z’Bach Mountain Farm Museum. Highlights from the week include the awarding of the best Krautinger Schnapps, a craft fair, a marketplace of schnapps and other local products, tastings of regional dishes and

beet-based recipes, and guided tours to local distilleries. Fête des Vignerons (Grape Harvest Festival)

Vevey, Canton of Vaud, CH

Confrérie des Vignerons

Vevey’s Brotherhood of Winegrowers dates back to the Middle Ages, when landholders joined forces to ensure the quality of the work carried out on their vineyards. Around 1770, the Brotherhood decided to organise a public ceremony to evaluate, rank and reward the best vineyard workers (previously, the typical approach had been to reprimand negligence). The first festival was held in 1797 and included a performance-pageant structured around the theme of the four seasons. Given bourgeois society’s interest in the idealised image of pastoral Alpine life, a 2,000-seat stand was built in Vevey’s Market Square for paying visitors. Following editions of the Festival were held in 1819, 1833, 1851, 1865, 1889, 1905, 1927, 1955, 1977, and 1999; the next will take place in 2019. Organised about five times a century, the festival is an inter-generational event that has seen an exponential growth in the number of spectators (approximately 12,000 in 1885; 16,000 in 1977 and 1999) as well as in its budget (approx. CHF 5 million in 1955; 20 million in 1977; 54 million in 1999). The estimated budget for 2019 is CHF 100 million, to be covered for 70% by admission tickets (the price range is CHF 79-299) and for 30% by partners, sponsors, and the municipality of Vevey. Main partners include Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Nestlé, Tissot, Swiss International Air Lines, the security company Securitas SA, and the insurance company Vaudoise. Once informally organised by Brotherhood members, during the 20th century formal organising committee with non-local experts were established. Until 1865, the festival incurred in financial losses that risked to put an end to it; turned profitable since 1889, profits are now used to finance ensuing editions. Since the 19th century, the Festival has been conceived as a spectacular extravaganza that requires the work of poets, musicians and choreographers; since 1989, the execution of the ‘Ranz des Vaches’ folk song is a much-awaited central element of the performance. The Festival always stages the same traditional theme, renewed edition

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after edition: the celebration of work and nature’s cycles, farming and winegrowing traditions, the rhythm of seasons, and the transformation of grapes into wine. Secular in nature, it often refers to Christian and pagan symbolism (for example, the God Bacchus and the Goddess Ceres, satyrs and maenads, etc.). In 2016, the Festival was the first Swiss tradition inscribed on the Representative List of the Intangible Culture Heritage of the UNESCO.

Fête du Blé et du Pain (Wheat and Bread Festival)

Echallens, Canton of Vaud, CH

Association de la Fête du Blé et du Pain

At its fourth edition in 2018, this Festival (inspired by Vevey’s Fête des Vignerons) celebrates the wheat and bread heritage of the Echallens district, long considered the breadbasket of the Canton of Vaud. The inaugural edition in 1978 staged more than 1,000 performers and gave impulse to the creation of a folk market that since then has taken place every year in July. Another related development was the creation in 1982 of the Association pour la Maison du Blé and du Pain, which opened the eponymous wheat and bread museum in 1989. In 2008, the Festival attracted 35,000 visitors. The expected budget for the 2018 edition is CHF 4,800,000. Main sponsors include the Vaud Canton, Banque Cantonale Vaudoise, Migros Vaud, the insurance company Vaudoise, Romande Energie, Loterie Romande, and the Orllati Group. The event is also financially supported by other sponsor categories for smaller amounts in the CHF 3-10,000 range. The key event of the Festival is the spectacle, with an expected audience of 40,000 visitors and tickets sold at a price range of CHF 70-100. Titled ‘Solstices’, the performance reinvents local legends and facts to represent the area’s wheat and bread heritage and its links to nature. Other activities, taking place in different locations in Echallens and surrounding areas over a 12-day period, include games, walks, exhibitions, food tastings, and themed menus at local restaurants.

Reblochon Festival

La Clusaz, Haute-Savoie, FR

La Clusaz Municipality

Organised since 1968 and celebrating its 50th edition in 2018, this cheese-focused open-air alp festival is organised in mid-August by the municipality of La Clusaz with the cooperation of the Union des Producteurs de Reblochon Fermier (Union of Producers of Farmer Reblochon; see Table 4c). Attracting approximately 6,000 visitors, the program includes a morning religious service, dances, games, a cattle procession, cow milking and Reblochon production demonstrations, on site restaurants, and market stalls.

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La Fête des fromages de Savoie (Savoie Cheese Festival)

Various locations in Savoie and Haute-Savoie (FR)

AFTALP – Association of Traditional Savoyard Alp Cheeses

The Festival is a promotional event that takes place every year in a different location with a focus on a specific Savoie cheese (see Tables 2 and 4c). First held in 2005, the Festival is a celebration of the Savoie cheeses’ heritage that is jointly organised by local communities and the relevant PDO/PGI professional organisations with the marketing and financial support and under the supervision of AFTALP, which specifies requirements for all involved parties (municipalities, local associations and restaurants; tourist offices; local farmers and the PDO/PGI organisations). The event planning takes one year and is assured by a steering committee with representatives of all involved actors. The Festival takes place outdoors at the end of June/the beginning of July. Activities target all ages, and include product/production demonstrations, cheese tastings, market stalls of artisans and local producers, on site restaurants, games, and spectacles. The 2017 edition took place in St. Offenge and focused on the PGI Emmental de Savoie. With an audience of approximately 10,000 visitors, the Festival required extensive volunteer work (90 cheesemongers and 120 individuals from local associations and other partners) and around 1.2 tons of cheese (1,000 kg were sold and 275 kg were used for free tastings).

Arnad Lard Festival

Arnad, Aosta Valley, IT

Lo Doil Association

Arnad lard is a traditional cured pork product made with pieces of fatback in a brine aromatised with juniper, bay, nutmeg, sage and rosemary. Granted PDO status by the EU in 1996, product specifications require that production take place in Arnad, a small municipality in the lower Aosta Valley with fatback from pigs raised in the Aosta Valley and other Italian Regions (Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto and Emilia Romagna). Three certified PDO lard producers (Maison Bertolin, Arnad Le Vieux, and F.lli Laurent snc) coexist with small artisanal producers who adopt family recipes. Promotion of the Arnad Lard is carried out by the local association Lo Doil (in patois, doil is the traditional wooden container used to prepare lard), that for almost 50 years has organised the annual Lard Festival (Fétha dou Lar). Taking place at the end of August, the Festival has become a significant tourist attraction, with 50,000 visitors mostly from outside the Aosta Valley. Run with the help of 400 volunteers, the Festival programme includes cultural activities, exhibitions, and taste laboratories organised by Slow Food in cooperation with known chefs. During the event, a restaurant serves lard-based and other traditional recipes at popular prices. On Sunday, the Festival’s final day, a market opens where local, artisanal producers sell lard and other traditional products (larger companies do not sell

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directly at the Festival). Festa de lo Pan Ner (Festival of Black Bread)

Aosta Valley, Valcamonica, Valtellina and Androna Valley IT/ Valposchiavo, CH

Various organisers (institutions and local communities)

The Festa is a recent initiative that aims to promote the Alpine rye bread baking traditions. It is the first trans-regional event of this nature organised in the Alpine Space. Conceived in 2015 by the Autonomous Region Aosta Valley, since 2016 the initiative has been supported by the Lombardia and Valposchiavo Regions, thus involving a greater number of local communities. In 2017, the Festa took place simultaneously in 5 areas: Aosta Valley; Valtellina and Valcamonica (Lombardy), Antrona Valley (Piedmont), and Valposchiavo (CH). The Festa lasts two days during which traditional ovens in the involved areas are simultaneously lighted. In 2017, the festival involves a network of privates and institutions, including bread ovens, bakeries and mills. In the Aosta Valley participation is greater (67 ovens), but interest is growing and it is expected than in the future the initiative will further spread to other Italian regions and Alpine countries. The Autonomous Region Aosta Valley coordinates the initiative, manages the festival web site, designs a common visual identity for the event, produces and distributes event signage, and provides some participating communities with rye flour for baking. Involved communities provide volunteer work and, within the general framework of the festival, design and implement educational activities for children and adults, tasting experiences, guided tours and conferences, visits to ovens and mills, etc. Community involvement and effort vary based on size, available infrastructures, local enthusiasm, and other circumstances. This event is non-commercial and was designed with the goal of safeguarding rye bread-related ICH and promoting inter-generational knowledge transfer. Its trans-regional and trans-national nature is also contributing to raising awareness among local communities on the similarities of rye bread making traditions across the Alpine space.

Pizzocchero D’oro

Teglio, Lombardy, IT

Teglio Tourism Office

The Pizzocchero d’Oro (Golden Pizzocchero) is a food and wine festival focused on pizzoccheri, Valtellina’s famous buckwheat pasta. It takes place in Teglio, home to the Academy of Pizzocchero (see again Table 2) that, based on historical research, has promoted the pizzoccheri’s original recipe and Teglio as the Pizzoccheri capital of Valtellina. Starting in September, the festival lasts 12 weekends during which twelve restaurants propose two main menus: the “Pizzochero d’Oro Menu” (€35) and the “Accademia Menu” (€26, designed by the Academy itself). During the festival, all the

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accommodation facilities situated in the Municipality of Teglio organise wine and food tastings as well as historical and naturalistic activities. Taking place in Autumn, the Pizzocchero d’Oro contributes to the deseasonalisation of the tourist demand in the area. It also strengthens the image of Teglio as the birthplace of pizzoccheri.

Idrija Žlikrof Festival (Idrija Dumplings Festival)

Idrija, Goriška region, SL

Youth Center Idrija, Idrija Heritage Centre- Tourist information centre Idrija, Municipality of Idrija, Society for the Promotion and Protection of Idrija's Cuisine

Idrija žlikrofi are traditional Slovenian dumplings from Indrija, a town in Western Slovenia (see Table 4c). Made from dough with a potato filling, they are often served as a side dish to meat or as a main dish with different sauces. The recipe dates back to the mid-19th century. Nationally recognized as a Traditional Speciality Guaranteed by the Slovenian government since 2002, the EU granted the dish the TSG certification in 2010. The festival is dedicated to the promotion of the specialty and its certified makers. During the Festival, which takes place at the end of August, local restaurants serve themed menu and workshop on žlikrofi-making are offered to different audiences. The Festival is organised by the Youth Center Idrija and Idrija Heritage Centre, with the financial support of the Municipality of Idrija and other sponsors and the collaboration of the Society for the Promotion and Protection of Idrija’s Cuisine, whose members are restaurant owners and certified producers. Participation to the Festival is free of charge; it attracts both local residents and tourists from Slovenia and abroad.

Praznik Češenj (Cherry festival)

Brda, Goriška region, SL

Institute for Tourism, Culture, Youth and Sports Brda

The Cherry Festival is a large and popular traditional event, visited by over 30,000 visitors from Slovenia and neighboring countries (Italy and Austria). Cherries have long been grown in Slovenia, where they represented an important source of income for local peasants, and the quality of Brda cherries was so appreciated that they had found their way to the imperial court of Vienna at the time of the Austro-Hungarian empire. After World War II, cherry production decreased due to the restoration of vineyards, but in the last twenty years it has enjoyed a new popularity. This annual festival takes place in June over a period of one week, and its many activities provide a way to showcase the Brda area’s natural landscape and cultural heritage to a public of adults and children. In the central village of Dobrovo, producers showcase their cherry-based products (jams and compotes, spirits and liquors, cherry wine, pastries, etc.). The Cherry Queen pageant is a key attraction: chosen among the young women of Brda, the Queen will represent the area at various festivals and events. The Cherry Cycling Marathon and the Hike from a Cherry Tree to a Cherry Tree provide a means to immerse participants in the beautiful

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hilly landscape of the area and appreciate its many orchards and vineyards as well as the local architecture. Winegrowers open their cellars, enabling visitors to taste the area’s known wines. Guests can also attend a traditional Brda wedding, in line with the area’s positioning as a wedding location, and a traditional parade of country carts, which provides an opportunity to learn about the area’s farming traditions.


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Stemming from agricultural and pastoral societies and cultures long disappeared, to survive they had to adapt to the industrial revolution, world-wide wars, the industrialisation of agriculture and the modernisation of the economy, the advent of mass tourism, as well as new forms of funding (including commercial sponsorship) and new promotional logics (such as those enabled by social media). Others are relatively young and growing, becoming bigger and more complex and costly to organise as they mature. Some of them, after periods of decline, have been revitalised thanks to a renewed interest in local cultures and traditions and the adoption of modern marketing practices. Independently from the state of their lifecycle in which they currently are, these events need to balance cultural and commercial imperatives. Despite their differences, some events are remarkably similar from one side to the other of the Alpine Space. A first, notable family of initiatives are those referring to the practices of Alpine transhumance and haymaking during the summer months. With the industrialisation of milk and cheese production, transhumance has been progressively abandoned in some areas, but it is still practiced in all Alpine countries. Rituals linked to the cattle ascent to and descent from high-mountain pastures, as well as summer alp festivals, have recently been revitalised: local pride and a rediscovery of local traditions and heritage, tourist development opportunities, and commercial interests have all contributed to this development. In some cases, these traditional festive events constitute the cultural blueprint for new initiatives that animate pastures with an experiential logic. Proposed activities that can include hikes, encounters with farmers, the tasting of traditional dishes, taste education laboratories, cow milking and cheese making demonstrations. Related to transhumance are also cow fights, a naturally occurring herd behaviour now developed into spectacular events that take place in some regions of Switzerland, France and Italy. Traditions linked to mountain cereals (and buckwheat, a pseudo-cereal) and bread- and pasta-making are also diffused in the Alpine space and give origin to a variety of cultural events and festivals that are sometimes linked to attempts to re-introduce these cultivations in given areas or to relight communal ovens that had long been left unutilized. The impulse for these initiatives may originate from cultural institutions, such as in the case the Rye Festival organised by Val Gesso’s eco-museum (IT, see Table 5); local or regional governments, such as the notable initiative conceived and coordinated by the Autonomous Region Aosta Valley (IT); or by local communities, such as the spectacular Fête du Blé et du Pain in Echallen (CH). Other cultural promotion initiatives focus on specific dishes, such as the Italian pizzoccheri, the Slovenian Žlikrof or Austrian Knödels. Cultural events and festivals focused on individual products are also prevalent. These initiatives often include market or trade fair elements (see chap. 10); yet some are covered in this section because despite the relevance of commercial aspects, they are marked by a festive nature, a community involvement and a celebration of local tradition that set them apart from other typologies of initiatives. For example, at the Arnad Lard Festival (IT), cultural animations,

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communal meals and conviviality prevail in the event program and a market of local producers and artisan food makers only takes place on the last day; significantly, larger lard producers do not sell directly at the Festival’s market. At the Fête des Vignerons (Vevey, CH), the key event is a large-scale artistic performance that overshadows’ the event’s significance for local wine growers. Even initiatives with an explicit promotional nature, such as AFTALP’s Festival of Savoie Cheese, may give local communities a key role in event design and organisation. As a result, the event acquires an authenticity that would not be present if AFTALP had assigned the task to a professional event agency 10. Periodic markets and trade fairs Local markets and fairs can serve as distribution channels for ICH-consistent products and provide a means to raise awareness about an area’s living traditions. These events have been subject to festivalisation processes, and are now typically held together with collateral events and experiences that contribute to their attractiveness. As a result, the distinction between cultural and commercial events is increasingly blurred. For example, the Apple Market in Bad Feilnback (Upper Bavaria, D; see Table 10), features a rich programme of side events that, overall, contributes to showcasing the area’s horticultural heritage and creating a festive atmosphere that would be hardly possible if the event consisted only of a series of market stalls. In the Alpine Space, countless farmers’ markets, Christmas markets, livestock markets, and other periodic markets take place. These initiatives are current incarnations of the local markets that since the Middle Ages have taken place around Europe. Typically managed by community organisations, these initiatives have been threatened by the modernisation of society and economic life. Similarly to festivals and cultural events, however, these initiatives have been revitalised thanks to tourism, as they permit local producers to take advantage of tourist demand for typical food and artisanal products. As their popularity increases, local markets tend to attract non-local vendors. Local producers may resent the presence of non-local competitors, and their admission can trigger internal tensions. At the same time, the presence of non-local vendors increases market size and attractiveness. As a result, a balance is often reached between protectionist attitudes and the need for growth. For example, the Market in the Square that takes place in Poschiavo during the Summer, when tourist presences reach their annual peak, reserves the more central locations to local vendors, whereas non-locals can install their stalls in the nearby lateral streets. In other situations, non-local vendors can be admitted for product categories that are not locally available. Other markets, such as the Open Kitchen initiative taking place in Ljubljana and other Slovenian towns, tend instead not to privilege local producers. Conceived with a modern logic as a profit-making initiative, events like these aim to provide clients with sufficient product variety; achieving a sufficient size and growth is therefore necessary for their survival.

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Table 10 – ICH-consistent periodic market and trade fairs: Illustrative cases

Event Area Organiser Relevant aspects

Marcù in Plaza (Market in the Square)

Poschiavo, Canton of Grisons, CH

Marcù in Plaza Association

Poschiavo’s Marcù has taken place in the central square of Poschiavo once a week during the summer months for more than 30 years. Organised by an association of local vendors, the market comprises 25-30 stalls of mostly local food (cheese, marmalades, honey, cured meats, wine, etc.) and artisanal products. Clients include both local residents and tourists. Vendors from Poschiavo are given a preferential treatment as they can install their stalls in the central square, whereas non-local vendors are situated in adjacent lateral streets.

Salon Suisse Goûts et Terroirs

Bulle, Canton of Fribourg, CH

Association Suisse des Goûts et Terroirs

At its 18th edition in 2017, this Swiss food fair attracted 270 exhibitors (mostly Swiss from different Cantons, with a few French and Italian presences) and approximately 38,000 visitors. As its subtitle also suggests (the Swiss Fair of Authentic Tastes), the event selects smaller, sustainable producers with a strong link to their area of origin (terroir in French). The event’s guests of honour include FAO, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, and Slow Food, which animate the cultural event program and take care of some exhibitions. The numerous side events include cuisine lessons, product tastings, workshops, trophies and contests, conferences, and encounters with chefs and other personalities.

Apfelmark (Apple market)

Bad Feilnbach, Upper Bavaria D

Bad Feilnbach Municipality, Bad Feilnbach Horticultural Association, Bad Festwirt Trade Association, and Manfred Kirner (event agency)

Bad Feilnbach hosts the largest apple market in Bavaria. Organised annually since 1992 on the first weekends of October, the event is a regional farmer market that has increasingly turned into a festival. Sometimes referred to as the “Merano of Upper Bavaria”, the region around Bad Feilnbach is famous for its mild climate and numerous meadow orchards with more than 30,000 trees; the Apple Market contributes to raise awareness about the area’s horticultural heritage. At the market over 200 organically grown apple and pear varieties are displayed and sold, as well as a variety of apple-based products like spirits, liquors, homemade marmalades and other agricultural and handicraft products. Side events include musical performances, presentations by the local costume group and an appearance of the “Apple-Queen”, who is annually nominated by the local horticultural society. Local restaurants offer a special menu with dishes based on local fruit in the week leading up to the market. Admission is free on Friday and costs €3 per person on Saturday and Sunday. Attendance has been in the 30-40,000 range in recent years. The event is

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organised by the municipality Bad Feilnbach and local event promoter Manfred Kirner with support from the horticultural society, who organises a display of fruit varieties; sells homemade cakes and regional potatoes and vegetables; and runs an information desk. The Bad Feilnbach trade association organises an exhibition of local trades and handicrafts.

Internationales Käsefestival (International Cheese Festival)

Oberstdorf, Bavaria, D

Oberstdorf Tourismus GmbH (DMO) and Alpwirtschaftlicher Verein im Allgäu e.V. (Alpine Farming Association)

Organised for the first time in Oberstdorf, Bavaria in 2009, the event is a biennial trade fairs taking place in odd year (during even years, the Festival takes place in Sand in Taufers, South Tyrol). Taking place in March, it lasts three days and attracts 50 exhibitors selling cheese specialties (mostly from Germany, with only a few Italian and Swiss presences, despite its ‘international’ title) and over 18,000 visitors (both residents and tourists) in 2015 (ticket price: €7). The Festival gives a special visibility to two local cheeses: the Allgäuer Bergkäse (Allgäu mountain cheese) and the Allgäuer Sennalpkäse (Allgäu alp cheese). During the event, a mountain cheese contest takes place, and a jury of experts awards the best products. The Festival program include various collateral events, including demonstrations of traditional cheese production techniques, workshops with experts on matching cheese and wine; cook shows and workshops with known chefs; traditional music and dances; performances by the local society for traditional costumes.

Bitto Exhibition (Mostra del Bitto)

Morbegno, Lombardy, IT

Consorzio per la tutela dei formaggi Valtellina Casera e Bitto

Already in 1907, Morbegno hosted a first cheese exhibition showcasing Bitto (see Table 4c) and other local Bitto-like cheeses. Initially called “Mostra Casearia della Valtellina” (Dairy Exhibition of Valtellina), during the exhibition a contest took place and the best cheeses in each category were officially recognized. In the decades that followed, the exhibition took place with some discontinuities until WWII. The Bitto Exhibition started again in the 1960s, to be relaunched in the early 1970s with the creation of the Voluntary Consortium for the Bitto Cheese. Initially excluded, in 1975 other cheese typologies were admitted to the cheese contest and exhibition, contributing to the event growth in the 1980s and in the 1990s, when the exhibition starting to take place simultaneously with the Regional Fair of Lombard Mountain Products. In 1995, Bitto was granted the PDO recognition, and the newly created Consortium of Valtellina Casera and Bitto became the exhibition organiser. PDO product specifications significantly extended production areas and allowed for more industrialized production processes. These changes triggered reactions and resistance in more traditional producers localized in the Bitto Valleys, who came to be known as the ‘Rebels’ (see again Table 4c). With the ensuing Bitto wars, in 1998 the Rebels quitted the

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exhibition, preferring to promote themselves at other trade fairs such as the Slow Food-organised Salone del Gusto and Cheese. In the meanwhile, the Bitto exhibition has increasingly turned into a festival, taking place in part in Morbegno exhibition venue with cultural events and tastings in the city centre. The 2017 edition took place on October 14-15. With more than 100 exhibitors and a program of 100 side events, it attracted a record attendance of 40,000 visitors (80% from outside the Sondrio province).

Cheese Bra, Piedmont, IT

Slow Food Italy and Bra Municipality

Cheese is a biennial consumer show through which Slow Food (SF) to advance its strategic agenda on milk and cheese production. First held in 1997, every edition promotes a specific theme in line with the SL philosophy, including raw milk as a key determinant of tastier and more sustainable dairy products; the risks posed to traditional cheese-making methods by food safety and hygiene regulations; the variety of cheese traditions in different parts of the world; the role of shepherds and herders as defenders of traditions and biodiversity; the continuing importance of mountain cheeses and transhumance to high-mountain pastures; and the transmission of traditional know-how to younger generations. Edition after edition, the event size has grown considerably. Visitors were approximately 160,000 in 2009 and 2011, 250,000 in 2013, 270,000 in 2015, and a record 300,000 in 2017. Exhibitors went from 200 in 2009 to 366 in 2017, not counting approximately 60 Slow Food presidia (stable number across editions), which are highlighted in a separate exhibition area. The event program of this citywide event includes 35 taste laboratories, 16 conferences, as well as 14 food trucks and 34 beer breweries. Cheese is a self-sustaining fair: in 2013, with total costs of €1,160,000, it generated revenues for €1,778,000 (44% rented surfaces to exhibitors; 25% public contributions; 22% private sponsors; 9% sales to the public) and a gross margin of €618,000.

Salone del Gusto

Turin, Piedmont, IT

Slow Food Italy in collaboration with the Turin Municipality and the Piedmont Region

Events are cornerstones of the Slow Food strategy: they are educational moments that contribute to raise awareness about the movement’s themes, serve as networking platforms, and also acts as sources of financing. First organised in November 1996, Salone del Gusto is a biennial trade fair that, since 2004, takes place together with Terra Madre (the meeting of Slow Food’s international network of food communities). Once held separately, the two events have de facto merged. Slow Food events are organised in a manner with is coherent with the movement’s philosophy, encapsulated by the three keywords good, clean and fair: the quality of events showcased need to be coherent with

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the stakeholders’ and the public’s expectations; events need to systematically reduce their environmental impact; suppliers and exhibitors are selected in a way that responds to the movement’s ideals of social justice and respect of worker rights. The Salone is organised by Slow Food Promozione srl on behalf of Slow Food Italia and Slow Food International. The 2012 edition, the last for which financial data are publicly available, had costs for €5,439,000 and revenues for €9,421,000 (50% rented spaces to exhibitors; 11.5% public contributions from the city of Turin and the Piedmont Region; 19% private sponsorships; and 19% tickets and other sales to the general public), generating a gross margin of €3,982,000. The 2016 edition took place on 22-26 September and attracted approximately 1,300 exhibitors (including 310 Slow Food Presidia) from 100 different countries, and an estimated 1 million visitors, including 7,000 Terra Madre delegates). More than 900 events took place, including 100 taste laboratories, 11 conferences, 100 Terra Madre forums and regional meetings, and 180 educational activities dedicated to schools and families. Special attention was given to the minimization of the event’s environmental impact (it is estimated that 70% of the wastes were sorted or recycled). The event generated an estimated economic impact on the host area in the range of €28-38 million.

Slow Food’s Earth Markets

Various locations in IT and Austria

Earth markets are community-run where local producers offer quality products in line with the Slow Food philosophy directly to consumers at fair prices; they also have the goal of preserving the local food culture. A new Earth market can be created when an interested community (local authorities, producers, Slow Food Convivia, citizens, restaurateurs) identify an appropriate infrastructure; a management committee with representatives from all interested parties is responsible for selecting vendors, promoting the market, and ensuring that guidelines are followed. Vendors should be smaller farmers and artisan producers from the surrounding area who commit to attend the market themselves and only sell products they have produced themselves. They must be willing to talk about their products, production methods, and how the prices are justified. In the Alpine Space, in 2018 there were 15 Earth Markets (13 in Italy and 2 in Austria). Most Earth Markets take place once or twice per month and

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Odprta kuhna (Open Kitchen)

Ljubljana and other Slovenian cities, SL

Private organisers

Created in 2013, this event is a food market that takes place regularly in Ljubljana on Fridays from early Spring to late Autumn, where it attracts thousands of visitors. The initiative occasionally takes place also in other Slovenian cities (Celje, Koper, Nova Gorica and Ptuj). Vendors include 50-100 restaurants from all over the country, offering traditional and innovative Slovenian and international dishes. The initiative was recognized with various awards for its role in positioning Slovenia as a culinary destination. Vendors are selected based on their quality, creativity and diversity.


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One of the problems of periodic markets for ICH-consistent producers is to ‘stand out in the crowd’. Some periodic markets select vendors with a logic that favours these producers and prevents direct competition with lower-priced alternatives. Slow Food’s Earth Markets have guidelines for the selection of producers that stress not only local origin, but also the need to preserve the local food culture. Additionally, vendors are required to sell products they have produced themselves and be directly present, without hired sales staff that would not be able to talk about product quality or production methods. By fostering direct encounters with farmers and artisan food producers, markets so conceived provide a means to consumers to understand the reasons behind product prices. Unlike periodic markets showcasing products from surrounding areas, trade fairs developed in the Middle Ages as festive events, typically taking place once or twice a year during a religious celebration, and attracted non-local merchants with more distant merchandises11. Some of the medieval fairs expanded considerably over the centuries, to later decline with the emergence of Nation-States, the industrial revolution, the improvement of transportation infrastructures, and the development of modern distribution systems. Those taking place in peripheral areas sometimes survived as local festive events or, when the area was known for a specialty product (such as Morbegno with the Bitto cheese), they turned into food fairs and festivals. At the beginning of the 20th century, trade fairs localised in larger cities became sample trade fairs dedicated to industrial products. These events attracted a public of both consumers and tradespeople, and exhibitors from all sectors of the economy. In the second post-war period, with the reconstruction and the economic boom, specialised trade shows emerged, focusing on a specific industrial sector and mostly dedicated to a professional public. In the 1980s, consumer shows conceived with an experiential logic, started to appear. Business-to-business trade shows in the food industry take place in large cities with international accessibility such as Paris, Milan and Cologne (see Table 11). These events can attract hundreds of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors. Successfully exhibiting at these trade shows requires however well developed marketing skills and large financial investments. Smaller producers typically take part in these events thanks to collective participations managed by producers’ associations and consortia, sometimes with the financial contributions of Chambers of Commerce and local/regional governments. Even when trade shows include exhibition areas that look promising for ICH-consistent producers (e.g., typical or traditional foods), these events privilege industrial producers in search of contacts with large-scale retailers. Events that select their exhibitors with different logics provide a much more favourable environment to heritage producers (see again Table 10).

11 See Bathelt, H., Golfetto, F., and Rinallo, D. (2014), Trade Shows in the Globalizing Knowledge Economy, Oxford University Press, Oxford, for an analysis on the evolution of the European trade fair system.

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Table 11 – Main Professional Trade Shows in the Food Industry in Europe

Trade Show Description Anuga, Cologne, D

Founded in 1924, this biennial event organised by Koelnmesse GmbH (the company that manages Cologne’s trade fair venue) is the oldest, largest and most internationalised of the European professional food industry trade shows. With a net exhibition space of 156,159 sq.m., Anuga 2017 attracted 7,405 exhibitors (90% foreign) and 165,008 trade visitors (74% foreign; 21% wholesalers, 15% importers/exporters, 13% retailers, 13% industry; 10% catering firms). Exhibition areas for the 2019 edition include fine food, frozen food, meat, chilled and fresh food, dairy, bread and bakery, drinks, organic food, hot beverages, and culinary concepts.

SIAL (Salon International de l’Alimentation), Paris, F

Founded in 1964, this biennial show is run by Comexposium, a leader in the trade fair business that organises more than 170 events in the world, which is owned by the Paris Ile-de-France Regional Chamber of Commerce and the Charterhouse private equity fund. With a net exhibition space of 136,183 sq.m., SIAL 2016 attracted 6,913 exhibitors (87.5% foreign) and 155,692 trade visitors (69% foreign; 55% retail/trade and 23% agrifood industries). Exhibition sections include pet food; cured and salted meats; grocery and dry food; fruit and vegetables; horticulture; fish and shellfish; dairy products and eggs; fine bakery, pastry, and confectionery; delicatessen products; meat and offal; poultry and game; wine and spirits; other alcoholic beverages; non-alcoholic beverages.

Salon International de l’Agricolture, Paris, F

Founded in 1964 and also organised by Comexposium, in 2017 this annual event attracted 905 exhibitors (93% French) for a net exhibition space of 38,087 sq.m. and 552,2007 visitors (95% French). The show, which is open to both tradespeople and the general public, also hosts the General Agricultural Competition, first held in 1870 to select and recognize France’s best regional products and breeding animals. Exhibition areas include crops and plant sectors, as well as gardening and vegetable gardens; livestock production; agricultural services and professions; and products from regions across France and its overseas territories and from the rest of the world.

Tuttofood, Milan, IT

Founded in 2007 and organised by Fiera Milano S.p.A., in 2017 this biennial show attracted 2,244 exhibitors (82.5% Italian) for a net exhibition space of 64,662 sq.m. and 59,061 visitors (79% Italian). Visitors included large retailers (13%), other distributors and import/export (69%), specialty shops (5%), e-retailers (4%) and food services (9%). Exhibition areas include frozen food, pasta, dairy, meat, green and organic products, sweets, delicatessens, seafood, drinks, and oil.

CIBUS, Parma, IT

Founded in 1985 and organised by Fiera di Parma S.p.A., in 2018 this biennial show attracted 2,024 exhibitors (98.5% Italian) for a net exhibition space of 60,584 sq.m. and 58,311 visitors (89% Italian).

Source: Elaboration on AUMA (2018) and trade show organisers’ data. Some of these events, such as the Cheese Festival taking place, alternatively, in Oberstdofr (D) and Sand in Taufers, are smaller initiatives, but others have grown in size and become a reference point for heritage producers at the

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national and international level. Slow Food directly organises two of these initiatives. The Salone del Gusto in Turin is the movement’s flagship event, with more than 1,000 exhibitors and an estimated 1 million visitors. Cheese, taking place in the small city of Bra (IT), selects as exhibitors heritage cheese producers who only use raw milk. Both events are used as networking and promotional platform to advance the Slow Food’s agenda on sustainable food production. Smaller in size is the Salon Suisse Goûts et Terroirs that takes place in Bulle (CH). Organised in partnership with FAO and Slow Food Switzerland, the show has become a reference point at the cantonal and national level for traditional producers with a strong link to their area of origin. 11. Summary and conclusions To be commercially valorised, the Alpine food ICH needs to be turned into marketable offers either in the form of products or experiences. Here, the term valorisation is intended in its two meanings: to give value and recognise the importance of ICH, as well as to establish an appropriate price so that value added can be created. In other words, the safeguarding of ICH can go hand in hand with its commercialisation, if some conditions are respected. Commercial valorisation should be based on practices and approaches that, through a balancing of various interests, successfully raise awareness and promote ICH to local residents, tourists, non-local consumers and other relevant stakeholders without distorting or diluting its meaning to satisfy market expectations. Another necessary condition is that the local community benefits economically from the underlying commercial activities, rather than being exploited by third parties. Building on these considerations, we developed a conceptual framework for the evaluation of ICH commercialisation according to which commercial valorisation can be understood as a safe zone of virtuous practices in-between the two extremes of an insufficient engagement with the market that generates missed commercial opportunities, and the over-commercialisation of ICH, when cultural costs outweigh economic benefits, or when the latter are misappropriated by non-local third parties (see again Figure 2 and chap. 3). The commercial valorisation of ICH thus requires a community-based, collective marketing approach: community-based, as local communities should be the key protagonists and beneficiaries; and collective, as it should be based on a network logic that federates actors of various nature (local and non-local alike) to join forces and achieve common goals. In some instances, to find a solution to the insufficient time, financial investments, and marketing competencies that cause an insufficient engagement with the market, small producers create collective organisations that permit to coordinate action, exploit synergies, pool resources, achieve a critical mass, hire professional staff, and become a more credible interlocutor towards local and higher levels of government, cultural institutions, tourist destination organisations, distributors, and other stakeholders.

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Another form of missed market opportunity is the fragmentation of investments and activities, which occurs when the promotion of an area’s ICH is taken care of by organisations, authorities and levels of government in uncoordinated ways. In some areas, to avoid fragmentation of effort and facilitate the pooling of resources, regional governments have facilitated the creation of authorities that link together agriculture, food production, commerce, and tourism. These approaches can go hand in hand with the creation of territorial brands, which constitute a widespread means to certify the local origin of food and other typologies of products and stimulate internal trade. A notable organisation adopting a community-based, collective marketing approach to the valorisation of food-related ICH is the Slow Food movement. Operating both at the local and global level, Slow Food has made a difference for countless small heritage products at risk of disappearing through its communication campaigns, events, markets, local organisations, and producer networks. Notably, when Slow Food establishes a Presidium (a ‘garrison’ to safeguard a food product), one of the first effects is an increase in production and prices, as well as an easier access to distribution. Slow Food activities show that, indeed, commercial valorisation can be instrumental to the safeguarding of ICH. Within this general framework, AlpFoodway WP T2 Partners identified and analysed cases of practices and organisations across the Alpine Space that have turned ICH into marketable offers. Some of these cases illustrate best practices of community-based market approaches. Others are informative of the tensions and conflicts that can arise when individuals, groups, and organisations interact together to achieve common goals. Overall, we sampled 114 cases of ICH-consistent products, experiences, retailers and wholesalers, restaurants and other Ho.Re.Ca. channels, festivals and cultural events, and periodic markets and trade fairs (see Table 1 and Figure 1). ICH-consistent products can make ICH tangible (but also tasteable and smellable). Heritage producers continuously develop product and process innovations to adapt to competition, evolving consumer tastes, scientific research, technological innovation, and product safety regulations. Innovation and tradition may seem at odd, but according to UNESCO’s conceptualisations, communities and groups constantly recreate ICH. Heritage is a living thing, and needs not be ‘museified’, ‘fossilised’ or ‘frozen’ – all powerful metaphors that refer to situations when past traditions area preserved without allowing for their evolution. Key findings from our comparative analysis are as follows.

- Quality schemes and geographical indications such as PDO, PGI, and TSG do not necessarily result in the safeguarding of ICH-consistent products. To register products according to these schemes, groups of producers need to establish a production protocol. Given the heterogeneity in production methods (e.g., family recipes, normal variations based on material conditions), the establishment of common production rules results in a loss of cultural diversity. The resulting product specifications are often a compromise that requires extensive diplomatic work. Sometimes, product specifications favour larger-scale producers adopting

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more industrialised production processes and, in the case of PDOs and PGIs, might allow for much extended production areas. Traditional producers can respond to these unfavourable situations by creating separate organisations to promote their products under different names and more stringent production protocols (such as Slow Food Presidia). In other cases, product specifications are more respectful of traditional production methods and areas or allow for different levels of certification (e.g., a more traditional farmer cheese vs. a more industrialised dairy cheese are allowed under the same PDO label).

- Various forms of ICH-consistent products can co-exist in the same areas. Survivals are traditional products that, with limited adaptations, have kept being produced ‘as they used to do in the past’. These productions are exceptions to the general trend towards the disappearance of these products in Alpine areas, due to depopulation, changes in material and social conditions, economic facts, and the advent of tourism. Sometimes, these productions have persisted outside of market exchanges (e.g., private production for family consumption or gift-giving) or in the informal economy, to be revitalised thanks to broader mobilisation processes linking together local heritage holders with other internal and external actors (farmers, research institutions, seed banks, State agencies, etc.). Retro-innovations are new products developed taking inspiration from an area’s traditions, based on historical research, family archives, or direct transmission from older generations who still remember how things were done. These innovations can require the restructuring of local supply chains and the reintroduction of local plant varieties and animal breeds. Living ICH innovations are a manifestation of a living heritage, which is adapted in response to a changing environment and new market opportunities. The local community is the ultimate judge of the authenticity of living innovations. Since communities vary remarkably across the Alpine Space, this means that innovations considered inconsistent with the local heritage somewhere might instead be promptly accepted as traditional elsewhere. Even innovations locally resisted at the time of their introduction can over time be legitimised and eventually perceived as traditional.

- The marketing challenge for ICH-consistent products is the justification of their higher prices. Food production in mountain areas is more expensive than elsewhere. If appropriately communicated, products stemming from an area’s ICH can however be sold to retailers, restaurants and consumers at a premium price that compensates higher production costs and make them profitable. Paying fair prices to heritage farmers and food producers is a necessary condition for the continuing survival of these products and the transmission of know-how to younger generations. Price differentials can therefore be legitimised on not only on objective or perceived quality differences, but also on ethical grounds based on the fair trade logic.

ICH-consistent experiences assemble together products and other elements of an area’s tangible cultural heritage (e.g., fields, orchards, pastures, mills, cheese

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dairies and storage facilities, wine cellars) together with services and opportunities for encounters with people who are heritage holders to create value added market offerings that can target both local residents and tourists. Experiences play an important role in the commercial valorisation of ICH because they provide a means to learn about it in a more complete, extensive, immersive and meaningful manner respect to products alone. Experiences can be easily integrated into an area’s tourist offer, and provide a means to put into relation agriculture, food production, restaurants, support local short supply chains, and create transversal food networks. Key findings from our analysis are as follows.

- Experiences can mix education elements with entertainment in different proportions. Storytelling and taste education are two key mechanisms that differentiate ICH-consistent products and justify their price differentials. Storytelling creates emotional resonance in audiences and can play an important role not only in the commercial valorisation of ICH, but also in its safeguarding. When cultural institutions gather stories to safeguard community memory and transmit it to future generation, the resulting commercial storytelling activities are much more credible and persuasive than those backed by advertiser creativity only. Experiences also provide opportunities to educate the taste of consumers. Younger generations or non-local consumers might be used to the taste of mass-produced products and do not necessarily prefer ICH-consistent alternatives. Taste education works best in tandem with storytelling, which can provide the cultural context and rational for appreciating taste differences.

- ICH-consistent experiences may be offered as a high-value market offering or as a promotional strategy to sell products. In the former case, their prices should permit to make profits; in the latter, they can be offered for free or at a minimal price and paid for through marketing budgets, since the real business is elsewhere. The cost to stage experiences is sometimes funded (totally or in part) by public actors or private sponsors. Whether publicly or privately financed, the creation of ICH-promoting experiences require financial investments and competent staff.

- Experiences can be created by building or renovating appropriate cultural spaces or facilities to serve as ICH showcases; by combining or bundling attractions to create a themed set; and by developing tour routes, circuits or networks or reviving existing ones. The development of ICH-consistent experiences often requires the cooperation of various actors: individuals and groups; public and private; for profit and not-for-profit; focused on agriculture, food production, commerce, culture, or tourism; and ICH promotion can be a more or less central preoccupation. Their tourist valorisation requires a careful balancing of cultural and commercial needs, with the local community’s best interests in mind. Tourists often have romanticised and oversimplified images of an area’s ICH, filled with inaccurate portrayals and clichés. The risk is then that experiences may be designed to adapt to tourist expectations, resulting in the ‘dumbing

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down’ of heritage. Sustainable ICH-based tourist products should therefore involve relevant stakeholders, ensure that their opinion is sought and taken into account, and create formal partnership when possible; maintain authenticity and avoid over-commercialisation; setting the limits of acceptable change to reduce tensions between commercial and cultural imperatives; balance education and entertainment; and avoid emphasis on short-term economic benefits and re-invest tourism-generated profits into community projects and training programmes.

The retailing and wholesaling of ICH-consistent products can occur through various channels. These products are sometimes distributed through the informal economy; to be commercial valorised, however, they need to enter the formal economy and their producers need to adopt appropriate legal forms and respect food quality and safety regulations. Key findings from our analysis are as follows.

- ICH-consistent producers often sell their products directly at their premises. When production quantity is small respect to the needs of the local market, direct distribution might be an efficient solution to sell their entire inventory. In other cases, producers get together to create commercialisation cooperatives or other collective solutions. These organisations may de facto absorb their members’ production and free them from the need to find clients and distributors. By taking upon themselves the marketing, sales, and trade relationship functions, however, these collective commercialisation organisations may de facto hinder the development of their member’s competencies in these domains. Additionally, the overall promotional narrative might not sufficiently highlight differences between ICH-consistent products and those from associated members that have adopted more industrialised production methods.

- Most ICH-consistent producers do not find it very difficult to distribute their products locally. Local distributors do not however necessarily prefer products of local origin. Their procurement patterns may privilege non-local suppliers with products of similar quality sold at a lower price and with a better service level (for example, local suppliers might not be organised for frequent deliveries). In areas where territorial brands are present, products of local origin tend to have easier access to local distributors.

- Difficulties in dealing with distributors increase outside of local areas. Given that ICH-consistent products are typically produced in small quantities and sold at a premium price, they should aim for selective distribution: in other words, they should select few distribution outlets in target geographical areas with an appropriate market positioning. These might include luxury retailers or small, independent stores focusing on artisanal food with a strong link to its territory of origin.

- ICH-consistent producers often find it difficult to deal with large-scale retailers, who ask for high production volumes, low price levels, quick deliveries, specific packaging solutions, and require producers to respect

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complex food safety and traceability norms. A contract with a large retailer with hundreds or thousands of points of sale can make a heritage producer’s fortune. Larger commercialisation cooperatives can more easily enter in relationship with these retailers, but small, artisanal producers are penalised by the rules of modern distribution.

- A few large-scale retailers adopt a market positioning and corporate social responsibility approach that promotes ICH-consistent products. Their procurement strategies are adapted to work with smaller-sized suppliers and the occasional stock shortage linked to the smaller production batches and seasonality of some products is valorised as a sign of the retailer’s management philosophy.

Restaurants and other Ho.Re.Ca. outlets (hotels, bars, food service firms, etc.) are important distribution channels for ICH-consistent products. Due to the decline of mountain agriculture in Alpine countries, restaurants and chefs nowadays often prepare typical recipes with non-local or imported ingredients. This creates a paradox: these restaurants are appreciated by tourists in search of authenticity, but they often source ingredients of non-local origin or propose simplified versions of local recipes. Customers with limited knowledge of local food culture might not note the difference. ICH-consistent producers are penalised by this state of things. Event restaurateurs willing to use local ingredients from heritage farmers and producers might be discouraged by their higher cost and lack of structured distribution and delivery solutions. The main findings from our analysis are as follows.

- The market positioning of some restaurants that are locally considered ambassadors of traditional food culture favours ICH-consistent producers. In most communities, local residents can easy tell the difference between restaurants catering solely for tourists and authentic restaurateurs. Thanks to Trip Advisor and other social media, non-locals find it increasingly easier to have access to the information.

- Haute cuisine chefs often take inspiration from the local food culture but in creative ways. While exceptions exist, they tend to favour expensive non-local ingredients and dishes that are considered ‘a must’ for haute cuisine restaurants. Local ingredients of suitable quality might not be promptly available, and their seasonality can result in challenges, particularly during winter.

- Non-local restaurants can provide, too, a market for ICH-consistent products. Of particular interest are those restaurants that propose traditional recipes outside of heritage communities, particularly in large cities, which do not only provide an important distribution outlet for these products, but can also become showcases of an area’s ICH.

- Another collective instrument to commercially valorise ICH-consistent products is through the creation of partnerships between agriculture, food production, restaurants, and other sectors of the local economy. These partnerships can help restaurateurs and chefs to learn about traditional recipes, find a reliable network of local suppliers able to

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promptly source required ingredients, and at the same time provide visibility to adhering restaurants and justify higher menu prices.

Festival and cultural events are an important part of the Alpine culture. Thanks to the concerted efforts of cultural institutions, tourist development organisations, and other stakeholders, local communities have sometimes been able to revitalise traditional events at risk of decline, which are now also appreciated for their contribution to local economic development. New cultural events and festivals, not necessarily rooted in tradition, are constantly being launched to animate areas during peak tourist seasons or to de-seasonalise tourist demand. Commercial considerations, while playing an important role for the sustainability of initiatives that are not publicly funded, should however not prevail overal their cultural viability. Key findings from our comparative analysis are as follows.

- Cultural events and festivals attract audiences of both local residents and tourists. Events for locals that do not take into consideration the needs of tourists may remain small and find it difficult to attract funding from higher levels of government or non-local private sponsors. In a sense, they can be considered missed opportunities linked to limited engagement with the market. On the contrary, events whose organisers consider tourists more important than local attendance may be perceived as inauthentic and may be considered cases of over-commercialisation. A balance is required between these two opposing cases.

- Cultural events and festivals are a way through which communities can stage their traditions and provide opportunities to tell stories, educate consumer tastes, and showcase an area’s tangible and intangible cultural heritage. Successful events require the collaboration of various actors, extensive volunteer work, and the careful balancing of economic, cultural, and social needs and priorities.

- Some cultural events and festivals are very old and in a maturity phase. Stemming from agricultural and pastoral societies and cultures long disappeared, they have constantly adapted to the spirit of the times and renewed their themes, organisational forms, and openness towards non-local audiences. Others are relatively young and growing, becoming bigger and more complex and costly to organise as they mature. Some were revitalised after periods of decline thanks to a renewed interest in local cultures and traditions and the adoption of modern marketing practices. Independently from the stage of their lifecycle in which they currently are, these events need to balance cultural and commercial imperatives.

- Despite their differences, some events are remarkably similar from one side to the other of the Alpine Space. A first, notable family of initiatives are those referring to the practices of Alpine transhumance. With the industrialisation of milk and cheese production, transhumance has been progressively abandoned in some areas, but it is still practiced in all Alpine countries. Rituals linked to ascent to and descent from high-mountain pastures, as well as summer alp festivals, have recently been

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revitalised. In some cases, these traditional festive events constitute the cultural blueprint from new initiatives that animate pastures with an experiential logic. Related to transhumance are also the cow fights, now developed into spectacular events in some regions of Switzerland, Italy and France.

- Traditions linked to mountain cereals (and buckwheat, a pseudo-cereal), as well as bread- and pasta-making have also given rise to a variety of cultural events and festivals, which are sometimes linked to attempts to re-introduce these cultivations in given areas or relight communal ovens long left unutilised.

- Events and festivals linked to specific products are also prevalent, and often include market or trade fair elements. Their festive nature set them apart from the period markets and trade fair initiatives considered below.

Periodic markets and trade fairs can serve as distribution channels for ICH-consistent products and provide a means to raise awareness about an area’s living traditions. These events have been subject to festivalisation processes, and are now typically held together with collateral events and experiences that contribute to their attractiveness. With respect to periodic markets, key findings from our analysis are the following.

- In the Alpine Space, countless farmers’ markets, Christmas markets, livestock markets, and other periodic markets take place. These initiatives are current incarnations of the local markets that since the Middle Ages have taken place around Europe. Typically managed by community organisations, these initiatives have been threatened by the modernisation of society and economic life. Like festival and cultural events, however, these initiatives have been revitalised thanks to tourism, as they permit local producers to take advantage of tourist demand for typical food and artisanal products.

- As their popularity increases, local markets tend to attract non-local vendors. Local producers may resent the presence of non-local competitors, and their admission can trigger internal tensions. At the same time, the presence of non-local vendors increases market size and attractiveness. As a result, a balance is often reached between protectionist attitudes and the need for growth.

- One of the problems of these initiatives for ICH-consistent producers is to ‘stand out in the crowd’. Some periodic markets select vendors with a logic that favours these producers and prevents direct competition with lower-priced products. By fostering direct encounters with farmers and artisan food producers, these markets provide a means to consumers to understand the reasons behind higher product prices.

Unlike periodic markets showcasing products from surrounding areas, trade fairs developed in the Middle Ages as festive events, typically taking place once or twice a year during a religious celebration, and attracted non-local merchants with more distant merchandises. Some of the medieval fairs expanded considerably over the centuries, to later decline with the emergence of Nation-

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States, the industrial revolution, the improvement of transportation infrastructures, and the development of modern distribution systems. Those taking place in peripheral areas sometimes survived as local festive events or, when the area was known for a specialty product, they turned into food fairs and festivals. At the beginning of the 20th century, trade fairs localised in larger cities became sample trade fairs dedicated to industrial products. These events attracted a public of both consumers and tradespeople, and exhibitors from all sectors of the economy. In the second post-war period, with the reconstruction and the economic boom, specialised trade shows emerged, focusing on a specific industrial sector and mostly dedicated to a professional public. In the 1980s, consumer shows conceived with an experiential logic started to appear. With respect to trade fairs, key findings from our analysis are as follows.

- Business-to-business trade shows in the food industry take place in large cities with international accessibility, such as Paris, Milan, and Cologne. These events can attract hundreds of exhibitors and hundreds of thousands of visitors. Successfully exhibiting at these trade shows requires well developed marketing skills and large financial investments. Smaller producers typically take part in these events thanks to collective participations managed by producers’ associations and consortia, sometimes with the financial contributions of Chambers of Commerce and local/regional governments. Even when trade shows include exhibition areas that look promising for ICH-consistent producers, these events privilege industrial producers in search of contacts with large-scale retailers.

- Events that select their exhibitors based on their link with the local territory and food culture provide a much more favourable environment to heritage producers. Some of these events are smaller initiatives of local significance, but others have grown in size and become a reference point for heritage producers at the national and international level.

These intermediate results, based on desk research and secondary sources, will be deepened in the next stages of the AlpFoodway Work Package T2 activities, which will provide more in-depth analyses of selected success cases in the commercial valorisation of Alpine food ICH through primary data. Commercial valorisation processes are difficult to study based on secondary sources, and field research provides a means to reconstruct the history of collective valorisation practices by investigating key actors involved (local and non-local), timelines of key developments, stages in the lifecycle of these initiatives (from conception/birth to growth to maturity), facilitating factors and obstacles, and tensions and conflicts among actors with diverging views and priorities. While it seems too early to provide definite conclusions at this stage of the analysis, some tentative general implications from our research findings are the following.

- Community-based marketing requires a networking approach that involves all relevant stakeholders, develops appropriate governance mechanisms that permit to successfully balance commercial and cultural

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imperatives, and ensures that local community actors are the primary beneficiaries of ICH safeguarding and valorisation initiatives. Measures that facilitate the creation of temporary or more stable networks towards the achievement of common goals should be encouraged. Tensions between network members with different priorities can be considered endemic to these collective processes and, if appropriately addressed, can lead to productive outcomes.

- Internal mobilisation processes are required before communication towards external stakeholders and markets can be successfully achieved. New commercial valorisation initiatives cannot be imposed top-down by external stakeholders or higher levels of government, but require instead extensive local involvement and debate. So to speak, ‘internal’ marketing is required before external marketing can take place without the risk of incurring in promotional messages that do not reflect the reality of the host community. Actions that facilitate local interactions, debates, and mobilisation processes should therefore be encouraged.

- External funding, whether public or private, for tourism, museums or public spaces, commercial development, and other local or regional priorities is often not coordinated and focused enough to help develop and promote local ICH-consistent production.

- The advertising symbolism and imagery of Alpine food products often refers to material production situations that are no longer true in the case of larger and more industrialised producers. Smaller, artisanal heritage producers, who often lack the marketing skills and financial resources to engage in promotional activities, are instead living examples of those advertising images. These producers often suffer from a de facto cultural appropriation of their image, which is used to create product symbolisms for more industrialised and lower-priced goods. These market-based dynamics are seldom recognised and should be highlighted in the context of ICH-safeguarding measures.

- Individual and collective branding approaches to the commercial valorisation of ICH should be based on authentic storytelling, rather than advertising claims not rooted in fact. Oral history and anthropological research aimed to prevent community memory from disappearing can result in audio/video documentation that can be fruitfully employed also to promote ICH-consistent products and develop experiences and cultural events.

- A common theme that emerged across the cases examined is the lack of business skills in various areas, including accounting (small, heritage producers often do not include the value of their work when setting the price of their products); marketing, promotion, packaging, visual and social media communication; and the planning of promotional events and trade fair participations. Training and educational initiatives can address these gaps, targeting local communities as well as commercial operators (food producers, staff at stores and restaurants, chefs, experience providers) so that they can turn into credible heritage storytellers.

Date post:	09-Jan-2020
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