By 15 July 2025

AFIDOP – MONITORING PROJECT 2025

May 2025

The initiative builds on the success of the pilot project “Progetto Vigilanza/Monitoring Project” launched in 2023 by AFIDOP with the support of Griffeshield, involving 10 PDO cheeses.

In 2025, AFIDOP has decided to launch the second phase of the project and open participation to its entire membership base. The 2023 initiative focused on monitoring the use of 10 cheese PDO names in the online menus of Italian restaurants. Thanks to the technical partner Griffeshield, a snapshot of the web was taken based on a representative sample of 21,800 restaurants, in order to verify how many actually used the cheeses and how they referred to the designations.

The results were presented during the event “PDO CHEESES: PROMOTING AND PROTECTING A STRATEGIC SECTOR OF MADE IN ITALY”, held at the Ministry of Agriculture (MASAF) in the presence of the Minister Francesco Lollobrigida on 29 September 2023.
Following the research, a partnership was established with FIPE, along with the first AFIDOP Guidelines for the Restaurant Sector. Thanks to this collaboration between AFIDOP and FIPE, food service professionals now have free access to a practical guide that helps ensure proper recognition and valorisation of PDO and PGI cheeses in their menus.

Objectives of the AFIDOP Monitoring Project 2025
Throughout 2025, digital monitoring will once again be carried out by GriffeShield, with the goal of verifying the effective implementation of the Guidelines in online menus, taking into account the seasonal changes in restaurant listings.

This new research phase will involve all 22 member Consortia of AFIDOP, expanding both the scope and accuracy of the project. The Consortia will receive an analysis of the content published on TripAdvisor and affiliated links, examining the first 200 search results for each Italian province.
The project aims to:

• provide an updated overview of the use of PDO and PGI cheese names in the online menus of Italian restaurants;

• monitor the actual spread of the AFIDOP Guidelines for the restaurant sector and compare the results with those of the 10 PDOs included in the 2023 pilot project;

• detect improper uses, misleading references or counterfeiting;

• provide the Consortia with an Excel file and a useful report (including screenshots, links, and alerts) to support monitoring and communication activities.

Through this project, AFIDOP aims to support the surveillance activities of the PDO/PGI Protection Consortia while also raising awareness among food service operators on the correct use and proper valorisation of these designations.

Expected Results
The goal is to obtain an updated and detailed overview of the use of PDO and PGI designations in digital menus, identifying any misuse, devaluation, or misleading references. Each participating Consortium will subsequently receive a personalised report to help guide its protection and promotional actions.
The findings will also contribute to the ongoing development and refinement of the AFIDOP-FIPE Guidelines.

The research is expected to be completed by the end of 2025.

The results will be made public on the website www.afidop.com and made available to interested companies of the sector.

Activity carried out with MASAF (Ministero dell’Agricoltura, della Sovranità alimentare e delle foreste) funds granted with Ministerial Decree No. 0672678 of 20/12/2024 CUP number J88H24002550007