Create a competition
Introduction

The National Contest for Traditional Products is a national event. It is covered by the media and is targeted to the general public, bringing together consumers and producers over origin-linked products.


Its ultimate aim is to generate income for farmers and/or operators dealing with production, processing or otherwise adding value to such products.

Broadly speaking, a National Contest of Traditional Food products should be an annual or biennial event.

In the long term, the major goals of a National Contest of Traditional Food products are the following:

To encourage quality improvement and adding value to regional products, by acknowledging the advantages of a given product as compared to similar ones;
To develop and/or strengthen ties between producers of local products of a given country, buyers and consumers (national and international);
To display the country’s finest regional products and to promote a typical brand image with consumers, national and international purchasing organizations and media, so as to boost marketing and exports;
To help modernize the regional products sector through enhanced organization, by fuelling a shift from a traditional sector to a modern one, while preserving the typicality of the product.

The National Contest of Traditional Food products aims to encourage producers of a country’s regional specialties to strive for quality, to establish healthy competition among them and to familiarize people with such foods.

The National Contest of Traditional Food products is not meant to be specialized. It is open to several trades and a wide variety of products. It is not reserved to any specific branch; it is a contest based on tastings by category, on the basis of technical and hedonic aspects (i.e. liking or disliking a product).

The contest is designed, organized and run for and with consumers.

It consists of 4 different phases:

  • The competition;
  • The market;
  • The awards ceremony;
  • Marketing medal-winning products in national and international fairs.


This being said, the additional indirect impacts on sector structure, regional products development and quality improvement can also be substantial.