In addition to protecting the designation, the Consorzio Tutela Aceto Balsamico di Modena (Balsamic Vinegar of Modena Protection Consortium) promotes new tools to help consumers correctly identify Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI.
These include “Modena Balsamic Genius”, the new educational gaming web app designed to help consumers learn about the features that identify the certified product and distinguish it from generic or lookalike products. The underlying principle is to learn to recognise authentic Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI through play.
Through a digital journey comprising games, challenges and missions, users are personally invited to observe, choose, recognise and test their knowledge. The game thus becomes a tool for education and awareness, capable of making content related to the certification, label and identity of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI accessible and easy to understand.
The aim is to raise consumer awareness and, through education, contribute to protecting the product’s geographical identity. A project that uses the language of games and digital tools to make it easier and more straightforward to learn about the elements that distinguish a certified designation.
Abroad (particularly in North America and in some parts of Europe), unregulated industrial condiments that misuse the word “balsamic” are taking away substantial market share from Italian producers. In the United States, industry estimates indicate that as many as nine out of ten bottles generically labelled as balsamic vinegar are not the genuine Aceto Balsamico di Modena PGI.
“Protecting authenticity also depends on consumers’ ability to recognise what sets a certified product apart. With “Modena Balsamic Genius”, we wanted to turn this principle into a simple and engaging experience that enables people to become more aware through play. Knowledge is, in fact, one of the most important tools for protecting a designation and the heritage of history, culture and expertise that it represents,” says Cesare Mazzetti, President of the Consorzio Tutela Aceto Balsamico di Modena. With this project, we want to strengthen our dialogue with consumers through a digital language that can also bring younger generations closer to the culture of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI and, above all, provide them with the tools to recognise its authenticity.”
The web app is also conceived as an evolving project. Further developments are planned, starting with the introduction of the English-language version and the addition of new games dedicated to the history of Balsamic Vinegar of Modena, with the aim of progressively expanding the content and the learning journey about the product.
To support the activities aimed at enhancing and promoting Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI, the Consortium is currently also involved in the project “Balsamic Vinegar of Modena PGI – A unique product from a unique land”, developed in Italy and Germany and co-funded by the European Union, with the aim of promoting awareness and recognition among consumers of products bearing a certified quality label.
