The Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry for the UK, together with other Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad, has joined forces with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation to combat the diffusion of the Italian Sounding phenomenon and encourage the conscious consumption of authentic Made in Italy products.

By Italian sounding phenomenon we refer to those products that have been made to look and sound like their Italian equivalents despite the fact that these imitations have no connection to Italy. This phenomenon is not recent as it started in the 19th century when Italians emigrated abroad to build a new life and they started opening restaurants, cafes and delis. At that time they could not import raw materials from Italy so they started producing their own, labelling them with names of the original ones.

Today sales of Italian sounding products worldwide have reached the value of €100 bln. In the UK, products mainly affected are Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma and olive oil.

Italy has over 300 agri-food products and 500 wines recognised as Protected Designation of Origin and Protected Geographical indication by the European Union. Italy is a leading country for food and wine excellences.

This project “True Italian Taste” is aimed at enhancing the Italian agri-food industry in order to increase its knowledge among consumers and consumption in target foreign markets, where products of Italy are most popular but are actually not of Italian origin.

The activities, which will be taking place over the next two years, are addressed to importers, distributors, hotel chain purchasing managers and speciality stores, chefs, food bloggers, journalists, nutritionists, opinion leaders and world-famous food and wellness enthusiasts. Activities will include business trips to Italy for food and wine buyers, workshops, seminars and promotional events abroad as well as other initiatives.

The “True Italian Taste” project is promoted and funded by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and implemented by Assocamerestero in collaboration with the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad. True Italian Taste is part of the "The Extraordinary Italian Taste" programme which aim is to enhance and safeguard the authentic Italian food product.