{"id":2894,"date":"2024-08-27T16:26:01","date_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:26:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/is-the-name-gruyere-generic-a-u-s-court-says-yes-swiss-cheesemakers-say-no\/"},"modified":"2024-08-27T16:26:01","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27T16:26:01","slug":"is-the-name-gruyere-generic-a-u-s-court-says-yes-swiss-cheesemakers-say-no","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/is-the-name-gruyere-generic-a-u-s-court-says-yes-swiss-cheesemakers-say-no\/","title":{"rendered":"Is the Name Gruy\u00e8re Generic? A U.S. Court Says Yes; Swiss Cheesemakers Say No"},"content":{"rendered":"
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European geographic designations<\/span><\/a> such as PDO, AOP, or AOC products used with wine, cheese, and cured meats, etc., enjoy name-protected status throughout the European Union. These distinctions mean that products that have any of those indications, such as Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP<\/span><\/a>, are considered to be geographically unique: that specific conditions which give particular character to the cheese cannot be replicated anywhere else, and the name therefore cannot be used outside of the designated region, and even then only for cheeses made by certain exacting criteria. \u201cIn Europe, it’s a protection to value a product,\u201d says Denis Kaser, Head of International Marketing for Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP, and to protect the people who make it according to ancient traditions. \u201cIt needs tradition,\u201d says Kaser. \u201cIt needs a recipe, and it needs a protected area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those name-protected designations, however, do not automatically extend beyond the borders of the governing entity, meaning that other countries may use protected names if they believe they have reason to. In the United States, for example, courts have upheld the regional specificity of products such as Champagne and Parmigiano-Reggiano, (giving rise to alternate, evocative names like parmesan, which was itself even fought, unsuccessfully, by Parmigiano-Reggiano producers,) but have ruled that other products, such as Muenster, have become generic over time, and are free to use by U.S. producers. Gruy\u00e8re is one of the latest products to have been determined to be \u201cgenericized\u201d over time, allowing U.S. cheesemakers who make gruy\u00e8re, (lower case intentional) to continue using the name with impunity. (Cheeses such as cheddar and gouda, despite being named after places, have no such protection even in their home countries, and have long been considered generic or common cheese names.)\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Recent Ruling on Gruy\u00e8re<\/h2>\n
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\"Cows

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Cows grazing in Switzerland photo credit Petter Backlund.jpg<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

To understand this in a broader context, it is important to consider how Gruy\u00e8re, and other styles of famous European cheeses, came to be made in the U.S. in the first place. Wisconsin, in particular, is home to a great number of Swiss immigrants, among other cultures, who very likely brought Gruy\u00e8re recipes and techniques with them, feeling as though they were paying appropriate homage to a cheese they were familiar with making.\u00a0 \u201cThere are Swiss cheese makers in Wisconsin,\u201d says Kaser, \u201cand they made it the way they learned. But the milk is not the same.\u201d Gruy\u00e8re has been being made in the U.S. for decades, according to Shawna Morris, Senior Director of the Consortium for Common Food Names<\/span><\/a> (CCFN,) in accordance with specific parameters<\/span><\/a> set by the USFDA, which does include guidelines for the aging of the cheese, but not as much for the condition of the milk.<\/p>\n

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin<\/span><\/a>, in fact, includes the following description of gruy\u00e8re on their website, which itself echoes Kaser\u2019s argument: \u201cGruy\u00e8re is one of Switzerland\u2019s most prized cheeses. Over there, they have all sorts of rules and regulations to follow when it comes to this centuries-old golden melter. In Wisconsin, our only gruy\u00e8re rule: make it delicious.\u201d<\/p>\n

In 2020 a collective of Swiss and French cheese producers petitioned the U.S. Patent and Trademark office to cease the use of the term gruy\u00e8re by U.S. cheesemakers, arguing for the regional specificity for the product, in a move the CCFN described in a press release as \u201caggressive and predatory.\u201d After the petition was denied by the USPTO, the Swiss and French collective petitioned the U.S. District Attorney, who, again in December 2021, ruled in favor of those defending the broad use of the name: the Consortium for Common Food Names, the U.S. Dairy Export Council<\/span><\/a> (USDEC), and the National Milk Producers Federation<\/span><\/a> (NMPF), among other American dairy stakeholders.<\/p>\n

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A Triumph for U.S. Cheesemakers: American Gruy\u00e8re Lives On<\/h2>\n
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\"Wisconsin

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Wisconsin Gruyere photo courtesy Wisconsin Cheese.jpeg<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Naturally, for the various American councils who fought the petitions, and American cheesemakers who make gruy\u00e8re, the decisions by both the USPTO and the U.S. District Attorney are a relief and a triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201c(We) are pleased to see this U.S. District Court decision reaffirming that gruy\u00e8re is a generic style of cheese that can be produced in the United States or anywhere around the world,\u201d says John Umhoefer, Executive Director of the Wisconsin Cheese Makers Association (WCMA.) \u201cNot only is this a landmark victory for American dairy farmers and cheese producers who offer gruy\u00e8re, this win sets a vital precedent in the much larger, ongoing battle over food names in the United States,\u201d says Jaime Castaneda, executive director for the CCFN.<\/p>\n

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When Alpine Cheese is Not Alpine: The Swiss Reaction<\/h2>\n
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\"Making

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Gruyere_AOP_Fromager_cmyk<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of course, the ruling is extremely disappointing to those who make AOP Gruy\u00e8re in Switzerland, citing history, milk quality, microbial conditions, and Alpine culture among the many reasons that the name Gruy\u00e8re deserves widespread, international protection. \u201cIt’s not a matter of ego, it’s just a matter of that it’s a product that has been made since 1115,\u201d says Kaser. \u201cIt’s more than 900 years of a cheese made the same way. We have some dairies that have salt baths that are older than 150 years. There\u2019s a DNA; a culture that is used in the cheese by many generations,\u201d he says, not to mention the various wild botanicals that Alpine cows graze on during the summer that provide the raw milk that gives Swiss Gruy\u00e8re a distinctive flavor. (American gruy\u00e8re may be either raw or pasteurized, but is certainly devoid of access to high Alpine pastures either way.)<\/p>\n

The ruling also has broader implications than just permitting American cheesemakers to utilize the name. Because gruy\u00e8re is legally considered a common cheese type in America, European countries outside of Switzerland and France are also allowed to make cheese called gruy\u00e8re, so long as it\u2019s only sold for export in the U.S., with Kaser spotlighting Finland, Slovakia, and Germany as countries making similar style cheeses that are shipped to the U.S. for packaging with a gruy\u00e8re label. \u201cWe also know that we are fighting against companies that turnover billions of dollars\u201d on the sale of gruy\u00e8re, including brands such as Roth and Boar\u2019s Head,\u201d says Kaser. <\/p>\n

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Confusion for Consumers<\/h2>\n
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\"Cutting

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Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In light of the ruling, one of Kaser\u2019s and Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP\u2019s ongoing missions is educational, in terms of reaching American consumers to help them understand the difference between true Swiss Gruy\u00e8re and domestically produced gruy\u00e8re, no small feat given that many of us were introduced to the puzzling concept of \u201cswiss\u201d cheese at an early age. (Generic swiss is an Emmenthaler knockoff that also bears little resemblance to the real thing.)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is more profitable to teach people,\u201d says Kaser, with a message that emphasizes \u201coriginal\u201d Gruy\u00e8re versus \u201cimitation\u201d gruy\u00e8re, with a dash of \u201cimitation is the sincerest form of flattery\u201d in the mix. \u201cWe’ve been copied,\u201d says Kaser, \u201cand people only copy the best. If you have a (domestic) gruy\u00e8re and you\u2019re looking for a Swiss Gruy\u00e8re, if you try it once you won\u2019t a second time.\u201d<\/p>\n

While education is the primary part of the long term strategy, Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP is also sometimes up against intentionally confusing labeling practices by those who package domestic gruy\u00e8re, according to Kaser. \u201cWhat I really don’t like is the abuse,\u201d he says, citing side by side packages at certain retailers where one is Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP and another is domestically produced gruy\u00e8re, but the design and font are nearly identical.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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The Future of Gruyere<\/h2>\n

While American cheese producers are allowed to keep making cheese called gruy\u00e8re, along with education, Kaser says this isn\u2019t the end of the line for the Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP cause: \u201cIt’s been a fight for over 10 years, he says. \u201cSo the next step is we are keeping on fighting, because we have nothing to lose.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

European geographic designations such as PDO, AOP, or AOC products used with wine, cheese, and cured meats, etc., enjoy name-protected status throughout the European Union. These distinctions mean that products that have any of those indications, such as Le Gruy\u00e8re AOP, are considered to be geographically unique: that specific conditions which give particular character to … Okumaya devam et “Is the Name Gruy\u00e8re Generic? A U.S. Court Says Yes; Swiss Cheesemakers Say No”<\/span><\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":1271,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[395],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-milk-and-diary"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1271"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2894"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2894\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2894"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2894"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sutyo.com\/tr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2894"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}