One of the most expensive gourmet ingredients throughout the world is saffron and the English region of La Mancha is one of the production of higher quality and reputation to the point that it is the only company that has Appellation controlled.
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Now transcends in an article in the El Pais newspaper that actually English saffron production is less than 1% of saffron is sold in markets such as English, almost all come from countries like Iran with a product quality levels much lower to the point that by being mixed with other herbs and pistils can be seen as a "surrogate" of saffron. Which means any product whose origin is English and whose nature can radically DISTAR original product takes advantage of the reputation of a source.
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This is a case, perhaps the most enormous that I know to date, reproduced in many other food items. We can not dissociate the downside of globalization and is linked to increased insatiable consumer culture of "gourmet" in the middle classes around the world. The problem is that the consumer ends up living a scam by buying a lower quality product at an attractive price also hidden in the traditional reputation and quality of the original version, with prices, of course, are high in comparison.
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For example, anyone who like to eat asparagus, artichokes or peppers in conseva know that the most reputable are those of Navarre, there is an appellation of origin that covers each of these products, but in reality most are sold as canned Navarre lack of name or seal geographical indication and come from countries like China or Peru.
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The strange thing is that in most cases the accomplices of this popularization are firms based in the same region of the original production (physical or legal paper) because it allows them to indicate on the label as coming the same and achieve a huge competitive advantage to the detriment of the producers that if they follow all the precepts of the denomination. I know of cases even more unheard of producers in a region of reputation in its catalog offering the product name and version with global mass-produced raw materials in other corners of the planet, half-price but twice the profit margin.
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The winning formula of this usurpation is simple, just chameleon imitating the traditional design of the packaging and identifying a quality presentation, mimicking the same messages and concepts, to the evocation of the name of the brands that usually have roots in historical traditions and geographic origins.
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I do not doubt that everyone deserves to eat a gourmet delicatessen and social progress is that anyone can pay a fine canned asparagus, but as consumers deserve to know in the process food products, quality and other attributes , the origin one of the most fundamental is not the same and can cost a cheese like camembert, brie, parmesan, gouda or manchego original one produced in another corner of the world taking advantage of popular knowledge of the original. If or should mention that this is a cheese "in the style of Camembert" made anywhere.
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Over the years this event will be reinforced thanks to the global expansion of supermarkets and the trend of creating brands of these chains of supermarkets and hypermarkets to monopolize power. The product name will become increasingly scarce and expensive, imitation is applied and within a few decades the memory of the taste, aroma, texture, preparation and presentation of the famous stud of Navarra belong to a product produced in a remote region China.
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The final tip, if you want to purchase a quality product with a controlled source, make detailed reading of the pack and look for the seal of an appellation of origin. Be wary when you read "Produced by" followed by a number of legal identification that does not make much sense for the consumer "for the company as" the area, this is just one of these cases and extension and identity theft.
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I invite to read the article saffron in the newspaper El Pais The English saffron is trap "http://rpc.technorati.com/rpc/ping http://www.to2blogs.com/ping/xmlrpc/f284ce27ac0fe92a11c23c6c3e80f46b55370232
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