Food Products of Protected Geographical Origin in Romania: Consumer Awareness and Perceptions

Between 2007 and 2016 only one Romanian product, 'Magiunul de Topoloveni' (PGI), was featured on the EU's Database of Origin & Registration. Three more new products registered in the course of the last twelve months: 'Novac afumat din Tara Barsei', 'Telemea de Ibanesti' and 'Salam de Sibiu', and two more have applied and are waiting to go through the approval procedures. Such an acceleration of the producers' interest in this type of quality certification prompts for an examination of the consumers' knowledge, perception, attitudes and behaviours concerning various quality labels or claims (ecological, traditional, of geographical origin, artisanal, etc.). The paper briefly presents a section of a consumer research on the traditionality and origin of food products, as well as the relation attributed by consumers between the two.