'Haute Cuisine' values PEFC-certified products, study reveals

12 March 2013 News

81.6% of leading Spanish chefs consider their customers would value the presence of sustainable wild products on their plates, according to a study entitled 'Commercial development of forest-based produce through sustainable forest management' by PEFC Spain.

The report, undertaken with technical assistance from the Institute of Environmental Studies and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment, is based on a survey of seventy-six restaurant managers, including establishments such as Arzak, El Celler de Can Roca, Martin Berasategui, Sergi Arola Gastro or Santceloni, as well as a survey of executive and sales managers from seventy five producer firms and interviews with eight members of the gourmet sector, experts in areas such as distribution or communications.

According to the study, chefs see wild, forest-based products as "aromatic", "natural" and "local". When asked what products they currently use, 71.1% of answers respond automatically to mushrooms. Of the replies they suggested, most also state they use berries, acorn-fed Iberico pork, honey, truffles and aromas.

Respondents believe that certification could provide the consumer with guarantees about traceability and improve the marketing of these products in Spain. 54.1% of the chefs and 54.7% of the producers think that forest certification could be given greater prestige. The study shows that sustainable wild products have a niche in the gourmet segment, for example, in sales of potential gifts.

Ana Belén Noriega, Secretary-General of PEFC-España, pointed out that this study on the acceptability of certified forest products by leading restaurant owners aims to "expand our dialogue with stakeholders, from public institutions to private enterprise and including major prescribers to PEFC certified products such as leading Spanish chefs". She also emphasised that the hillside is an area that harbours life, home to a range of biodiversity, but also a resource to be used to promote rural development, "and today we have to approach economics on the basis of actual resources".

These products also have another niche in foreign markets (Germany, the UK, Scandinavia, the U.S. and Japan) given the "awareness" that exists in those countries with regard to global problems and the current hardships facing Spanish cuisine. In this vein, Jaime Palafox, Director of Economic Affairs and Internationalization of the Federation of Food and Drink Industries (FFDI), congratulated PEFC-España on its initiative to increase the value of forest-based products. "When selling abroad, we have to have a good story and certification is one such good story. If we want to play in the first division, we have to sell value-added products like our competitors", he said.

PEFC also presented a guide book called 'Sabores de bosques sostenibles' (Tastes of Sustainable Forests), which includes a part of the study, data on the certification of wild produce and information about PEFC-España.