The process of the Bergamotto PGI of Reggio Calabria concludes with the awaited convocation of the Public Verification Meeting by the Ministry of Agriculture. It was December 2023 when the promoting committee for the PGI “Bergamotto di Reggio Calabria” chaired by the agronomist Rosario Previterarejoiced at the ministerial approval of the production specifications after three years of investigation. The last step was missing: the public hearing, which never arrived due to the about-face of the Calabria Region. One year later, the promoting committee and the bergamot growers are finally rejoicing at the official convocation of the Ministry set for Tuesday 28 January 2025 at the Regional Citadel of Germaneto.
Francesco Macrì, president of Copagri Calabria, believes that «finally a process is closed but also a farce which delayed the obtaining of the PGI for more than a year without reasons. As I have already said several times, the process for the PDO had never been started by the Ministry and will never be started. With the bergamot sector in full crisis, today the PGI would have been very useful to support the fresh market. We will have to wait for the next production campaign but we will have time to prepare to face the markets, the real ones.” Roberto Capobianco national president of Conflavoro PMI highlights that «the news of the public hearing makes us happy. With the PGI. The supply chain will be able to breathe national and international air and promote a unique product outside regional borders with great benefit to employment and company income.” Giuseppe Mangone president of Anpa Calabria-Liberi Agricoltori considers the convocation «an expected success after months of protests and public assemblies which demonstrated which side was the true representativeness of the Bergamot of Reggio Calabria: more than 500 companies blocked by interests consolidated for decades and a few subjects, well sponsored, which in terms of kilos of PDO essence produced do not even reach 10 hectares. Individuals and entities who have already sent letters from lawyers to the Ministry to continue a losing battle.”
