Costly cheese renaming exercise looms

They will lose naming rights to Feta cheese in nine years time and expect more European cheese names will be added to the list in the future.

NZ Specialty Cheese Makers Association chair Catherine McNamara told Dairy News that there was a lot at stake for NZ in the negotiations and it was inevitable that there would be winners and losers. She says they are just thankful that the deal includes a nine year transition period for the use of the word Feta to be banned from use by NZ cheesemakers. She says this is a better deal than some other countries have had from the EU.

"In the case of Feta we can't refer to it in any way; we can't rhyme it, we can't have anything that gives any indication that it is that product because it is not that product anymore.

"Everything has been taken away from us. The only thing that someone has suggested, tongue in cheek, is Whetu, which is quite cool but I am not sure we'd get away with it," she says.

McNamara says they'll now be relying on the Government for financial help with the transition as they seek to create some unique NZ names for our specialty cheeses. She says while Feta is on the schedule for removal now, it is likely that other names such as Havarti, Halloumi, Gorgonzola, Gruyere and Parmesan will be added to the list in the future.

"We have really got to prepare now because there is no point in doing it once for Feta and then doing it as other cheese names come into the deal. This is a huge task and the only logical way to deal with it is for everyone in the industry to work together and have the same names for each type of cheese," she says.

According to McNamara, it's going to be tricky to inform customers what the name is going to be for Feta in the future. She adds it is going to be difficult for retailers because they have got categories saying Feta, but they won't be able to have that anymore because Feta will be one product from Greece.

"It will be a big task for all the individual cheesemakers with their marketing and websites, their price lists and point of sale information. They will have to create new labels, branding - you name it.

"Then there is trademarking those names, and that is hugely expensive, doing that not only in NZ but also overseas. This is because if we do start exporting, those new names have to be protected, like the geographical indications in Europe," she says.

Faced with these major changes, McNamara says they will need government help. She says they will need a person to project-manage the change, lawyers to assist with IP and help from government departments such as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT) to help guide them through the complex process.

"Individual cheesemakers cannot afford to do this without government help," she says.