EN Official Journal of the European Union C 159/32

Publication of an application pursuant to Article 50(2)(a) of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs

(2018/C 159/07)

This publication confers the right to oppose the application pursuant to Article 51 of Regulation (EU) No 1151/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (1).

SINGLE DOCUMENT

‘CIOCCOLATO DI MODICA’

EU No: PGI-IT-02314 — 12.6.2017

PDO ( ) PGI ( X )

1. Name(s)

‘Cioccolato di Modica’

2. Member State or Third Country

Italy

3. Description of the agricultural product or foodstuff

3.1. Type of product

Class 2.2. Chocolate and derived products

3.2. Description of product to which the name in (1) applies

The name ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ designates exclusively the product obtained by working bitter cocoa paste with sugar.

When released for consumption, ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ has the following characteristics:

— Physical characteristics Shape: rectangular parallelepiped with sides tapering into a truncated pyramid. Weight: not exceeding 100 g. Chocolate mass: brown in colour with evident graininess owing to the presence of sugar crystals within the product. Possible visible blooming of the cocoa butter on the outer surface.

— Organoleptic characteristics Taste: sweet with bitter note. Grainy or sandy sensation. Melts well in the mouth and has a crunchy texture.

— Chemical characteristics Minimum cocoa solids content: not less than 50 %; Minimum cocoa butter content: not less than 25 %. Moisture content: not exceeding 2,5 %. ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ may be supplemented by adding one or more of the optional ingredients mentioned in point 3.3 below.

3.3. Feed (for products of animal origin only) and raw materials (for processed products only)

‘Cioccolato di Modica’ involves the use of the following ingredients as a percentage of total product weight.

Mandatory:

— Bitter cocoa paste: from 50 % to 99 %,

— Sugar including refined or raw cane sugar: from 50 % to 1 %.

Optional:

— Spices: cinnamon min. 0,02 %, vanilla min 0,02 %, chili pepper min. 0,02 %, nutmeg min. 0,01 %,

— Natural flavourings: citrus fruit min. 0,02 %, wild fennel min. 0,02 %, jasmine min. 0,01 %, ginger min. 0,02 %,

— Fruit including dried or dehydrated: citrus fruit min. 2 %, pistachio min. 5 %, hazelnut min. 5 %, almond min. 5 %,

— Salt: min. 0,02 %.

In addition to those mentioned above, at the producer’s discretion it is also permitted to use other spices (min. 0,02 %), natural flavourings (0,02 %) and fruit including dried or dehydrated (min. 2 %).

Prohibited:

— Colourings, preservatives, emulsifiers, vegetable fats, vanillin, milk.

3.4. Specific steps in production that must take place in the identified geographical area

All steps in production of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’, from when the bitter cocoa paste is worked until the finished product is obtained, take place in the identified geographical area.

3.5. Specific rules concerning slicing, grating, packaging, etc. of the product the registered name refers to

‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is marketed in single- or multi-product packages.

Packaging operations must occur within at most 12 hours of cooling and take place within the production facility or in premises annexed thereto. This makes it possible to avoid any bacteriological contamination or absorption of foreign odours that would compromise the organoleptic profile of the product and ensures that the chocolate does not absorb moisture from the external environment, which would lead to the risk of mould forming during storage and the characteristic brown colour of the product’s outer surface being lost.

3.6. Specific rules concerning labelling of the product the registered name refers to

Packaging must feature the words ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ and the European Union PGI symbol. The following information is also mandatory:

— the name, company name and address of the producer firm and packaging firm,

— the logo of the product, which must always be used together with the protected geographical indication.

The words ‘Indicazione Geografica Protetta’ (‘Protected Geographical Indication’) and the acronym IGP (PGI) are optional.

The country of origin of the cocoa from which the bitter cocoa paste was obtained may also be mentioned on the label.

Product logo:

4. Concise definition of the geographical area

The production area of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is the entire administrative territory of the municipality of Modica in the province of Ragusa.

5. Link with the geographical area

‘Cioccolato di Modica’ has its origins in the town of the same name and over time has attained great repute linked to both its distinctive characteristics and the specific nature of its production process.

‘Cioccolato di Modica’ has organoleptic characteristics that result from a process involving neither the addition of cocoa butter or other vegetable fats nor the conching stage, i.e. the process of mixing and heating the chocolate mass at high temperatures for a very long time in order to make the mass smooth and render the lumps of such a size that they are imperceptible with the tongue.

When ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is being produced, the fact that there is no conching and that the temperature at which the ingredients are processed is carefully controlled stops the sugar crystals dissolving and gives the product its characteristic graininess which is perceptible to the palate. This feature makes ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ distinguishable from all other types of chocolate on the market.

Many publications and domestic and foreign press articles have extolled the distinctiveness of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’. An article published in Panorama magazine (31 October 1996, p. 258) describes ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ as follows: ‘When the bar is broken the sugar crystals clearly stand out. Indeed, the chocolate does not pass through the liquid state like in traditional production …’; the book Le denominazioni comunali: opportunità di sviluppo territoriale includes an article published in an online newspaper in which the manufacture of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is described as follows: ‘the unique feature of production is that the cocoa paste is worked raw and never reaches the liquid state; this is why it does not allow the sugar crystals to dissolve. The flavour of this chocolate is considered unique, because the flavours of both the chocolate and the sugar emerge’ (Le denominazioni comunali: opportunità di sviluppo territoriale, Milan, Giuffrè, 2005, pp. 241-253); an article published in the magazine ‘The Times’ (5 November 2011, p. 20) stated: ‘Modican chocolate is dark not milky and has a crumbling texture rather than a melting one … and is made from a centuries-old recipe’; the article ‘Modica, barocca e granulosa’ (published in the magazine Italo — I viaggi del gusto, December 2014, p. 107) states: ‘The sugar crystals that do not melt and instead stay crunchy are one of the most beloved features of the characteristic product of the Sicilian town, its chocolate’; the article ‘Nasce a Modica il museo storico del cioccolato’ published in the magazine Emotions (12 July 2014, p. 93) refers to ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ as being ‘unique for its cold processing that gives it a graininess and crumbliness that have won the hearts of food lovers worldwide’.

Very recent testimony to the renown of the characteristic feature of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is provided by the book Die Insel der Dolci by Hanns-Josef Ortheil, a German author, screenwriter and German-language scholar who visited Modica: ‘it is a great shock when I taste Cioccolato di Modica, because unexpectedly I can taste the sugar crystals on my tongue, like a whirlwind of grains sliding from one part of the tongue to another …’.

The distinctiveness of how ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ is produced, its characteristic sensory profile and its grainy texture have also been the subject of scientific studies. The following can be cited: ‘Microstructural Characterization of Multiphase Chocolate Using X-Ray Microtomography’ published in the Journal of Food Science (Vol. 75, No 7, 2010, pp. E469-E476); ‘Sensory profile of a speciality Sicilian chocolate’, published in the Italian Journal of Food Science (Vol. XXIII, No 1-2011).

Producing ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ requires a good deal of dexterity and specific skills, which entail the use of proficient staff with expertise in measuring out the ingredients, controlling the temperatures at which the chocolate mass is worked, combining the ingredients and carrying out moulding operations.

The importance of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ in the geographical area should be considered in the light not only of the presence of a local industry linked to its production, but also of the adaptation of machinery used in its production, which is clear proof of the strong and lasting interconnection between the product and the local economy.

The production of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ has always been an important opportunity for the local population to find work and to this day it is a significant economic activity and one of the most important sources of employment in the Sicilian municipality of Modica. Over the last thirty years the flourishing of a series of small firms has given rise to a veritable ‘Cioccolato di Modica district’, characterised by the particular vitality of its operators, some of whom have established major export activities. Over the years, this feature of the production system has made it possible to develop and maintain knowledge and skills that are handed down from generation to generation and cannot be found elsewhere.

Reference to publication of the specification

(the second subparagraph of Article 6(1) of this Regulation)

This Ministry initiated the national opposition procedure by publishing the application for registration of ‘Cioccolato di Modica’ PGI in Official Gazette of the Italian Republic No 103 of 5 May 2017.

The consolidated text of the product specification can be consulted on the following website:

http://www.politicheagricole.it/flex/cm/pages/ServeBLOB.php/L/IT/IDPagina/3335

or alternatively:

by going directly to the homepage of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy (www.politicheagricole.it) and clicking on ‘Prodotti DOP IGP’ (at the top right-hand side of the screen), then on ‘Prodotti DOP IGP STG’ (on the left-hand side of the screen), and finally by clicking on ‘Disciplinari di Produzione all’esame dell’UE’.

(1) OJ L 343, 14.12.2012, p. 1.