評論
打印
Middle East & Africa
中東和非洲版塊
Food labels
食物標簽
The champagne of Benin
貝寧的“香檳”
How the sugarloaf pineapple joined the pantheon of posh nosh
糖面菠蘿是如何加入到美食殿堂的
WHAT HAM is to Parma, cheese is to Caerphilly and sparkling wine is to a certain region of France, the spiky-haired sugarloaf pineapple is to Benin.
就像火腿之于帕爾瑪，奶酪之于卡爾菲利，起泡酒之于法國某個地區一樣，長著尖刺的糖面菠蘿與貝寧也有著這樣的關系。
Last year this juicy delicacy was granted the west African country's first "geographical indication" (GI), a legal label that marks out products that come from a particular region.
去年，這種美味獲得了西非國家的首個“地理標志”(GI)，GI是一種標明產品來自特定地區的法律標簽。
Benin's move signals a wider trend.
貝寧的舉措預示著一種更廣泛的趨勢。
Other places have long sought special status for their fanciest fodder.
其他地方長期以來一直在為他們最精美的食物尋找獨特的地位。
France and Italy have roughly 6,000 GIs each.
法國和意大利各有約6000個地理標志產品。
Africans want a slice of the action.
非洲人也想從中分一杯羹。
It could be tasty.
一定很美味。
Sales of products given GI status by the EU are worth 75bn a year ($83bn).
被歐盟授予地理標志地位的產品每年的銷售額為750億歐元(合830億美元)。
On average foods with GI status command a 43% price premium, says a recent study.
最近的一項研究表明，擁有地理標志的食物平均有43%的溢價。
For wine, which makes up more than 50% of sales of EU-protected products, that rises to 300%.
對于葡萄酒這種占受歐盟保護產品銷售額的50%以上的產品來說，溢價率可升至300%。
Benin hopes that GIs will not only sweeten its pineapple exports—the fourth biggest in west Africa—but also make its sales of cashews, shea nuts and shea butter more fruitful.
貝寧希望地理標志不僅能增加其菠蘿的出口量 （菠蘿是西非出口量第四大水果），還能使腰果、乳木果和乳木果油的銷售成果更好。
Higher prices could make a big difference in a country where 38% of people work on farms and 45% live on less than $1.90 a day.
更高的售價可能會帶來很大的不同，貝寧有38%的人在農場工作，45%的人每天生活費不足1.90美元。
Others in the region hope to benefit, too.
該地區的其他國家也希望從中受益。
Cameroon's Penja pepper was the first African product to receive the coveted label in 2013.
2013年，喀麥隆彭賈地區的辣椒是第一個獲得這個令人羨慕的地理標志標簽的非洲產品。
Sales of the sought-after peppercorn, which is grown in the volcanic soils of Mount Cameroon, helped stimulate a six-fold rise in local farmers' incomes.
生長在喀麥隆火山土壤中的胡椒頗受歡迎，它的銷售額帶動當地農民的收入增長了6倍。
It now graces the plates of Michelin-starred chefs.
如今，它為米其林星級廚師的菜肴增光添彩。
GIs have the potential to encourage farmers to band together to improve standards and earn higher prices.
地理標志有鼓勵農民聯合起來提高標準，賺取更高價格的潛力。
But a big challenge, says Michael Blakeney, a professor at the University of Western Australia, will be to make sure that the benefits of premium prices are passed on to farmers and are not captured by middle men, who typically have more information about markets than small-scale farmers.
但西澳大利亞大學教授邁克爾布萊克尼表示，由于中間商通常比小規模的農民掌握更多的市場信息。所以要確保溢價帶來的好處能夠給到農民，而不是被中間商所占據，這是一個巨大的挑戰。
Moreover, competition is intensifying as more countries seek protected GIs for their own products.
不僅如此，由于越來越多的國家都在為自己的產品尋求地理標志的保護，競爭也在加劇。
Penja pepper already has rivals from Cambodia and Indonesia.
彭賈辣椒已經有了來自柬埔寨和印度尼西亞的競爭對手。
Benin's pineapples will have to battle against the likes of Huay Mon ones, which Thailand hopes to protect.
貝寧的菠蘿將不得不與泰國希望保護的懷蒙鳳梨等競爭。
Though surely a sugarloaf by any other name would not taste as sweet.
當然，任何其他名字的菠蘿都沒有貝寧菠蘿那樣甜。
