The European Union launches a communication campaign in the US to promote agricultural food & beverage products?through Storytelling: More than Food and Drink, Savoring Stories

The 360-campaign will share compelling stories through a series of events, promotions, and digital activations highlighting the safety, quality, authenticity, and sustainability of EU's F&B products.

NEW YORK, Jan. 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The European Union (EU) launches its initiative to promote the excellence of the European agri-food and beverage products in the US and calls upon storytellers to reach its audiences. The campaign will showcase some of EU's finest products to inform and inspire American consumers and professionals.

The EU is the 3rd largest supplier of agricultural and agri-food products to the US (15%) after Mexico (20.2%) and Canada (18.7%). This campaign is a step towards strengthening this alliance by increasing awareness about its agricultural and beverage products.

Agricultural products from the European Union are more than just food and drinks, they are stories shared, heritage passed on through generations. They are collections of flavors, bursting with character that is traceable through history that echoes the origins. The product categories promoted in the campaign will include quality cheeses, olive oil, fruits and vegetables, chocolate and confectionery products, pasta and bakery products, wine, beer, and spirits.

Engaging with the F&B professionals at Industry Events

The campaign will be launched with a presence of the EU during the 2024 Winter Fancy Food Show offering a unique Food & Beverage experience to journalists. To embody the European flair, a Market pop-up will offer sampling, pairings, entertainment, and more at Texsom, Vinexpo America, Bar convent, StarChefs, SXSW, & CIA. 

Reaching Consumers to showcase European F&B 

The pop-up will also be available at Aspen Food and Wine and Charleston Food + Wines festivals offering sampling, cooking demonstrations, and information to consumers.?The campaign will develop retail and e-commerce partnerships with Wine.com with an interactive presentation of EU alcoholic beverage and virtual tastings, and with DiBruno Brothers, for promotion initiatives as an Ambassador of European products and finest specialty food with in-store tasting, an online marketplace, and more. 

Sharing European Values

All 27 EU Member States share food and farming standards, reinforced by robust food safety regulations, guaranteeing authentic, high quality, diverse and safe products.

Authenticity

Centuries of tradition and know-how, handed down from generation to generation, give European food its own authentic flavor. These tastes can be traced back to the wide variety of soils, climates, and cultures in Europe. Everyday products are tied to these origins and cannot be reproduced elsewhere. The EU created several quality schemes (including Protected Designation of Origin, Protected Geographical Indication) to protect the names of specific products and to promote their unique features as well as the traditional know-how involved in their manufacture.  

Quality

European gastronomy has been perfected by farmers and producers over centuries, founded on cutting-edge methods and standards of food production. The use of pesticides, herbicides, additives, flavorings or enzymes is also highly regulated in Europe to ensure the best quality food and drinks. The EU holds its products to the highest standards.

Safety

Quality products are more than just taste. In Europe, there are strict health and safety standards in place all along the supply chain ? from the field to the consumer ? surveying everything from pesticides to packaging, disease prevention to hygiene measures. Labels clearly indicate the contents of all food and drink products.

Sustainability

The EU Farm to Fork Strategy aims to make food systems fair, healthy, and environmentally friendly. Sustainably produced EU products are the output of sustainable farming practices and leading innovations in agriculture and food science. They help preserve the ecosystems and thus are a step forward in ensuring the planet's health for us all. The Farm to Fork strategy contains several key objectives such as reducing fertilizer, pesticides use, tackling antimicrobial resistance and converting 25% of EU farmland to organic farming by 2023. To meet these goals, the EU particularly supports research and innovation to modernize agriculture through fostering and sharing knowledge with digitalization and new technologies.

EU Quality Schemes, the excellence of European agricultural food production.

EU quality policy aims to protect the names of specific products to promote their unique characteristics, linked to their geographical origin as well as traditional know-how.

• Protected Designation of Origin (PDO)

Product names registered as PDO are those that have the strongest links to the place in which they are made. Every part of the production, processing and preparation process must take place in the specific region. For wines, this means that the grapes have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is made.

• Protected Geographical Indication (PGI)

PGI emphasizes the relationship between the specific geographic region and the name of the product, where a particular quality, reputation or other characteristic is essentially attributable to its geographical origin: For most products, at least one of the stages of production, processing or preparation takes place in the region. In the case of wine, this means that at least 85% of the grapes have to come exclusively from the geographical area where the wine is actually made.

• EU organic label

Guarantees agricultural products and foodstuffs have been produced as naturally as possible, while minimizing the impact on the environment. It also guarantees a high standard of animal welfare.

For more information about our upcoming events and to learn more about the campaign, visit: https://more-than-food-us.campaign.europa.eu/

CONTACT: Sophie Naud, [email protected]

SOURCE REA