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Lebels? More confusion than explanations

Biological, extra-virgin olive oil, quality certifications. Does competition really improve quality? Facts show that it is not always the case. A few observations about difficulties and meaning of all labelling forms and classification of traded products

by Daniele Bordoni
http://danielebordoni.wordpress.com

Everything or almost everything is labelled or encoded, not only for prices or type of products, ma also for branding, fashion designing, origin or as a production chain.

This does not necessary mean that branding or labelling is a bad thing. They can be useful to help consumers in individuating low quality products, just made up to cheat them, by making them believe they are buying good quality products, with the consequence of casting discredit on good products.

The real question is: There is a limit to labelling or to encoding? Is it really necessary to label or to encode everything? Up to what extent is it fair to guarantee contents?

We are overwhelmed by bar codes, incomprehensible for us. Everything is checked from someone else, camcorders record our behaviour everywhere, including movements and payments, or just money withdrawals.
Driven by the same principle we choose famous fashion makers’ brands as for dresses, perfumes, accessories, paying them more just because they are “branded”, regardless of quality of products, but just relying on names.

The nonsense is that we advertise a name shown on dresses or accessories, not only at no cost, but even paying more, often more than the double of a reasonable price, instead of benefitting of a discount. In a way it can be said that we love being “recognized” and identified with the product itself; i.e. “he or she is someone who wears an Armani, Valentino, Gucci dress or sweater or anything else”

It can be said that “ecological” or “biological” are a kind of labels, elite labels more exactly, that, when applied, allow an additional mark-up to prices. It is funny to note that nobody reacts at the label “produced by biological agriculture”. How should it have been the alternative? “produced with chemical agriculture”? How about “ecological”? Should the alternative have been “pollutant”?
How about “extra-virgin olive oil”, why extra? This is the final evidence of difficulties in assigning high quality to a product. In other words, “virgin” should have been more than enough.

Language and use of language offer the most important signs or quality drifting in food product consumption, but the same principle is also applicable to all kinds of consumption and for all products. There numbers of examples. Looking at labels raises questions about real contents of products.

Food preservation, colouring, favouring standardize and homogenize products making them all alike. Even other consumption of non-food products is all alike. It is true for mobile phones, PCs, TVs and even cars. Colour and shape are alike, depersonalized. Difference or distinction is not looked for, or just for small accessories, but likeness.

One may object that variety offers a choice in any case, quality has improved, and competition improves quality. Facts show that it is not always the case. Among serious companies it pushes in that direction, but confusion created by growing unfair competition is often a predominant factor. A number of low quality and price similar products end up with involving good products, provoking economical damages to production companies and compromising corporate image.

Then there are quality certifications, taking an increasing role, though not decisive, to guarantee traceability of goods, in addition to strict production rules.

The consequence of all that is an increase of product price implied by the additional costs for producers. This is a cultural problem. There would be no need of Doc., Dop, or Igp If food production culture were “fair”. Someone told that Olive Oil should all be biological and it shouldn’t be set on a label. Not only. Can you imagine an ordinary housewife trying to read all label details about each product, most of them recalling an insurance or a bank account contract?

It is objectively difficult to get out of it, as labels create confusion and not clarifications. There are law fulfilments, that is true, but if all label spaces are filled up, there will be not even the space for a product name.

Labels are fine if they don’t loose sight of contents and consequences of their use, buried deep into bar codes, lists of ingredients in 7 or 8 languages, sending back above or below packaging and symbols of obscure meaning.

Part of the responsibility is to consumers’, who adapted themselves too easily to standardization and homogenization of products. One day I happened to hear a lady refusing to purchase a fresh mountain milk carton, just because, as she said “it tasted too much of milk”…. an unforgiveable imperfection! It would be much better to pay twice as much for a milk carton, not tasting of milk at all.

We lost track even of taste. Fruit, apples, pears, bananas, even salad are labelled with trade marks. We often forget the “real” producer was ground, while trade companies just raise them or, more often, import them. Our artificial food culture is so largely widespread today that if you ask a kid where milk comes from, it will probably tell you “from supermarket” and not certainly from cows.

The possibility of finding off-season products has its price: Greenhouses, intensive farming, over-exploitation of ground, transportation costs from one side of our planet to the other and air pollution which is its consequence. It is more and more common to talk about home products especially for healthy food, as the correct manner to respect our environment. This also implies lower costs, both economical and environmental, and correct relationship with food seasons. If we go over the idea of always finding anything in any period of the year, we will probably head to the right direction.

by Daniele Bordoni
http://danielebordoni.wordpress.com
01 February 2010 Teatro Naturale International n. 2 Year 2

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