Μarket controls for PDO halloumi compliance | Charalambides Christis
October 24, 2022
The Ministry of Agriculture has launched intensive controls for compliance with the conditions of the PDO (Protected Designation of Origin) agreement for halloumi. The checks will take place mainly at the large supermarkets of the country, since the deadline for the removal of old uncertified stock has now expired.
The check has already started from the larger supermarkets, which hold a much larger and representative stock, and will then be extended to the smaller markets as well. According to the Director of the Agriculture Department Mrs Androula Georgiou, no violations were detected in the market, and it seems that they have removed all the old stock and have fully adapted to the new specifications. Besides, Mrs Georgiou underlined that ministry controls will go on with unrelenting severity and that the grace period has permanently expired.
Regarding the rise in the price of halloumi (1-2 euros up from the 12-13 euros price per kilo), Mrs Georgiou stated that it is due to the world energy crisis, because of the war in Ukraine, which has even led to a rise in the cost of animal feed. Finally, the rise in the price of milk aims to support farmers under these difficult circumstances, she added.
The Executive Secretary of the Pancypriot Association of Hypermarkets Mr Andreas Hadjiadamou stated, in turn, that he is satisfied with both the management of the Ministry and the markets’, and it seems that the time given was sufficient to channel the old, non-PDO, stocks. However, he added that availability gaps of PDO halloumi are likely to arise. Overall, he is quite optimistic that the process would continue without incident.
Concluding his statements, Mr Hadjiadamou referred to the halloumi-type, non PDO, cheese, which is gradually being released to the market. He claimed that this product will be competitively priced and more affordable to consumers. For the moment, just a few products of this type are available, but it is estimated that they will increase in number, depending however, as always, on market trends.
