Gouda and Edam receive PDOs

The Dutch dairy industry has achieved EU protected name status for both Gouda and Edam – cheese types already made by almost every major cheese producer in neighbouring Germany and other main cheese production lands. From 2011 the cheeses of this type made in the Netherlands with milk collected from Dutch cows will be officially called Gouda Holland and Edam Holland. The EU protected product logo will also be on the new labels. There will be no action to stop the production of Gouda and Edam in other countries, as long as production land is clearly indicated, according to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture. It notes that the award of protected name status represents the culmination of a “years-long” struggle with the EU.
The Dutch cheese industry was already thriving in the 1600s but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the Dutch government enforced uniform production and maturing for the traditional Gouda and Edam cheeses, mainly to encourage an increasing export trade for the two already well-known names. Nowadays almost one third of the 712 m kg cheese exported annually from the Netherlands comprises Gouda Holland or Edam Holland.