BOGOTA – The Colombian Coffee Growers Federation (FNC) was invited to Brazil to present its experience in promoting and protecting Café de Colombia’s origin at the International Seminar of Geographical Indications and Collective Brands.
The seminar took place between October 29th and 30th in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, which is Brazil’s main coffee producing state.
The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) and the National Institute of Industrial Property (INPI) organized the seminar in an attempt to discuss key instruments of origin differentiation strategy, such as Geographical Indications and Collective Brands.
The FNC has made significant progress in this field, enhancing competitiveness and driving Colombian coffee away from the world of commodities.
The FNC presented both its strategy to promote and protect coffee origin and its positioning and marketing initiatives. Based on a quality policy, these instruments have allowed the FNC to access new high-value markets for Colombian producers.
The seminar was attended by more than 300 producers, businessmen, lawyers and other stakeholders in Denominations of Origin (DO) as well as representatives of different DOs and Collective Marks including the Montes de Toledo from Spain, the Vale dos Vinhedos from Brazil and the Café del Cerrado Mineiro.
Among the issues discussed were Geographical Indications and Collective Marks from the basic production of commodities, to building a brand and offering value as factors of competitiveness (branding). Another theme addressed was the “Value of Origin for Accessing Markets.”
The broad participation of representatives from supermarkets, restaurants and culinary centers, reflected the increasing importance of DOs in the industry’s higher value and sophisticated segments.
