SINGAPORE: In a finding that impacts how cheese can be marketed in Singapore, the Court of Appeal on Friday (Nov 22) ruled that Parmesan is not the same as Parmigiano Reggiano.
This is as Singapore consumers do not regard Parmesan cheese as originating only from the specified region of Italy where Parmigiano Reggiano cheese comes from, Justices Tay Yong Kwang, Belinda Ang and Judith Prakash said.
Instead, the way that Parmesan is marketed and sold in Singapore has influenced local consumers to view it as a cheese that can and does come from outside Italy.
The Court of Appeal gave its decision after an appeal by Fonterra Brands (Singapore) Pte Ltd, a subsidiary of a cooperative owned by 10,000 dairy farms in New Zealand.
Fonterra, which sells different types of cheese under the Perfect Italiano brand, was contesting a lower court’s finding that “Parmesan” is a translation of “Parmigiano Reggiano”.
“Parmigiano Reggiano” is a type of geographical indication (GI). GIs identify products that come from particular territories, and GI labels cannot be used on products that do not originate from those specific territories.
In this case, the GI is for cheese that comes from “the part of the province of Bologna to the left of the River Reno, the part of the province of Mantua to the right of the River Po, and the provinces of Modena, Parma and Reggio Emilia” in Italy.
The GI “Parmigiano Reggiano” was registered in Singapore in June 2019 by the Consorzio del Formaggio Parmigiano Reggiano – a consortium of producers of the cheese.
The Consorzio is tasked by Italy’s Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policies to protect interests relating to Parmigiano Reggiano.
The Consorzio is also the holder of “Parmigiano Reggiano” as a protected designation of origin (PDO) under European Union law.
In September 2019, Fonterra filed an application to qualify that the GI “Parmigiano Reggiano” should not cover the term “Parmesan” as the terms are not equivalent.
The company argued that Parmesan need not come from Italy, is not regulated in the same manner as Parmigiano Reggiano, and differs in milk content, regulations, taste, colour and texture.
When the registrar of GIs allowed Fonterra’s application, the Consorzio filed an opposition to it. The opposition was allowed by a Principal Assistant Registrar and upheld by a High Court judge.
Fonterra then launched this appeal.
“WORDS DO NOT EXIST IN A VACUUM”
The dispute pitted dictionary definitions of “Parmesan”, put forth by the Consorzio, against examples of how the term is used in the Singapore market, put forth by Fonterra.
The Consorzio used extracts from the Collins Dictionary, the Larousse Italian-French Dictionary and the Cambridge Italian-English Dictionary to argue that “Parmigiano Reggiano” translates to “Parmesan” in both English and French.
Senior Justice Prakash, deliving the court’s judgment, said the extracts may provide some support for the Consorzio’s case, but were not definitive.
This was because they were compiled by foreign publishers who may not be informed about the way “Parmesan” is used in Singapore.
“Put differently, these dictionaries are not written in (and were not designed to reflect) the vernacular used by locals in Singapore,” she said.
She elaborated that “words do not exist in a vacuum, and how a particular word is used and the meaning or meanings which it bears over time may vary depending on the particular context and local conditions in which the word is used”.
She also said the court was concerned with the perception of “the average consumer in Singapore, which means Singapore citizens and residents, and not those who are merely passing through”.
This average consumer is “not someone with a specialist knowledge of cheese”, and also not a member of the expatriate or Italian community in Singapore, she said.
In contrast, Fonterra argued that it is “customary” in Singapore for Parmesan to refer to “a hard, dry, easy to grate, or grated cheese with a sharp, slightly sweet, salty flavour”, and for this not to be linked to Parmigiano Reggiano.
The judges were more persuaded by Fonterra’s evidence in the form of at least 10 product listings showing that Parmesan cheese products are sold in Singapore with clear indications that they come from outside Italy.
They noted considerable differences in the overall visual cues between products sold as Parmesan and sold as Parmigiano Reggiano, and conspicuous displays of the country of origin for Parmesan.
Fonterra’s evidence also included online catalogues of local supermarkets and Amazon Singapore that categorise Parmigiano Reggiano cheese separately from Parmesan cheese.
The judges agreed with Fonterra that such categorisation by traders has influenced local consumers to see Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano as “two different kinds of cheese products”.
Finding in favour of Fonterra, they ordered a qualification of rights to be entered into the Register of GIs, stating that the protection of the GI “Parmigiano Reggiano” should not extend to use of the term “Parmesan”.
The judges also ordered the Consorzio to pay S$100,000 (S$74,204) in costs to Fonterra.
