Good Mornington Peninsula!  The first Victorian provenance trade mark is registered

Producers on the Mornington Peninsula have successfully applied for a provenance trade mark, and are now armed with a new way to identify locally grown and produced food.

Following the registration, food grown or produced entirely on the Peninsula can now be sold under its own brand.  The trade mark was launched recently and 17 producers have already received certificates of accreditation.  The mark itself is owned by Mornington Peninsula Shire Council.

IP Australia has listed the rules governing the use of the registration being:

1. Mornington Peninsula Shire must be the region of origin of each significant ingredient of the goods.
2. All, or virtually all, of the processes involved in the production or manufacture of the goods must take part in the Mornington Peninsula Shire region.

The region is the first in Victoria to trademark its food production, but the concept is by no means a new one. In fact, the EU has 3 schemes of geographical indications and traditional specialities, known as ‘protected designation of origin (PDO), protected geographical indication (PGI), and traditional specialities guaranteed (TSG)’.  These protect all manner of food stuffs, from Gorgonzola, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Melton Mowbray pork pies, Camembert, Herefordshire Cider, Cognac, Armagnac and Champagne, all of which can only be labelled as such if they come from the designated region.

As reported in the Weekly Times, Steve Marshall – one of the founding producers to sell under the trademark – explained that the trade mark was designed to strengthen the Mornington Peninsula’s reputation as a quality, fresh and innovative food economy and provide consumers with a guarantee of authentic provenance.

“The Mornington Peninsula Produce brand is easily identified by its distinctive black and white logo and provides a central focal point for both producers and consumers to rally behind, assured provenance,” Mr Marshall said.