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14 cheese producer companies own the ‘’ Georgian Milk’’ marks
14 cheese producer companies own the ‘’ Georgian Milk’’ marks
Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia Levan Davitashvili attended the event dedicated to the "Georgian Milk" mark. The event was conducted by the Business Institute of Georgia.
The importance of developing the dairy production and processing sector was outlined by the minister, who also noted, that above mentioned direction faces many challenges in the country. It should be mentioned, that "Georgian Milk" mark will provide additional incentives and help entrepreneurs in conducting marketing campaigns.
“Georgian Government takes active steps to overcome challenges and promote the development of the diary sector. The Ministry cooperates with the dairy producers and representatives of the diary processing sector to ensure a consistent development of the full value chain of cheese and dairy products. We should mention, that under the Association Agreement with the EU, we have developed a number of regulations in terms of improving animal health, introducing food safety standards in the enterprises, as well as ensuring product reliability and traceability.
In addition to proper state policy, the involvement of the business sector, as well as increasing responsibility is of utmost importance for rapid and efficient development of the sector. "Georgian Milk" will help to increase the credibility of local dairy products and promote Georgian cheese in the markets " the Minister of Environmental Protection and Agriculture said.
The mark "Georgian Milk" will be issued to enterprises, which, in accordance with Georgian traditions produce local raw milk and do not use milk powder or vegetable fat. To achieve this, the enterprise must undergo a primary inspection and documentary review to see if the company is registered as a business operator, whether it has been recognized by the National Food Agency and whether it has been implementing a Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) system. In the second stage, the enterprise will be inspected on the place and if the documents match, a “Georgian Milk” mark will be issued.
The first mark "Georgian Milk" was issued in March 2019. At present, 14 diary companies across Georgia have already received the mark.
The governing body of the "Georgian Milk" mark is Georgian Business Institute. The project is being implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Agriculture of Georgia with the support of the MERCY CORPS Small Caucasus Alliance Program and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation.
The event was conducted in the wine shop “8000 Harvest”, the companies awarded by the “Georgian Milk” mark held degustation of their products and tasting of wine
The representatives of milk processing and cheese-making enterprises, merchants, industry associations, private and public organizations attended the event.